African National Congress - The African Mirror

Mar

2023

South Africa’s Ramaphosa adds electricity minister, allies ahead of 2024 election

BHARGAV ACHARYA and CARIEN DU PLESSIS SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a new electricity minister in an effort to try to solve the worst power cuts on record in the country, and he added several other allies to his cabinet ahead of a general election next year. Cabinet changes had been widely expected since Ramaphosa was re-elected leader of the governing African National Congress (ANC) at a party leadership contest in December, paving the way for him to run for a second term in 2024. Ramaphosa's ANC is set to face its toughest electoral test yet in just over…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

SA president to reshuffle cabinet

NEWS

SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa will announce changes to the national executive at 7:00 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Monday, presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya said. A cabinet reshuffle has been widely expected since Ramaphosa was re-elected leader of the governing African National Congress (ANC) at a party leadership contest in December, paving the way for him to run for a second term in 2024. "The president is finalising his reconfiguration of the national executive," Magwenya said at a news briefing, adding that he was taking into account the swearing-in of some members of parliament before announcing the reshuffle. Ramaphosa is expected…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Paul Mashatile is set to become South Africa’s deputy president: what he brings to the table

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SOUTH Africa is set to have a new deputy president in Paul Shipokosa Mashatile, the deputy president of the governing African National Congress (ANC). He’ll replace the incumbent, David Mabuza, who announced he would step down. Who is Mashatile and what does he bring to the position? Author KEITH GOTTSCHALK, Political Scientist, University of the Western Cape Mashatile (61) is a veteran politician from the ANC, the party that has governed South Africa since democracy in 1994. He has occupied a dizzying array of posts and portfolios during his climb to the top. Mashatile has been continuously in party or…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s ANC wants to use disaster rules to ease power crisis

NEWS

CARIEN DUPLESSIS SOUTH Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) wants to employ disaster management legislation that was used to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic to help end crippling power cuts, a top party official said. Struggling state utility Eskom has implemented power cuts every day this year, after a record number of days with outages last year. On Tuesday, it will ramp up power cuts to the highest level on record. "Our response to COVID was scientifically driven. Our response to dealing with load-shedding must be scientifically driven," ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula told reporters, using a term for power cuts. "The…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Non-racial South Africa: book shows debate on nation building is still relevant today

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THERE has been much comment recently on the lack of representation of minorities in the leadership structures of South Africa’s governing party, the African National Congress (ANC). For Douglas Gibson, a former leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), the exclusively black composition of the ANC’s top leadership shows that the ANC is no longer committed to building one nation. He believes the ANC is clearly not a home for all. Look at its MPs, ministers, MECs, councillors, and mayors … The leadership has place only for black South Africans. For Gibson, the baton has been passed on to the…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Energy crisis forces SA president to skip World Economic Forum

NEWS

SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa will no longer attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos due to the ongoing energy crisis in the country, his spokesman said. Power cuts have worsened since Tuesday when struggling state utility Eskom said it would implement its worst-ever outages until further notice. The power cuts are a major source of public frustration with the governing African National Congress (ANC) and a brake on economic growth in Africa's most industrialised nation. "Currently the President is convening a meeting with leaders of political parties represented in parliament, NECCOM (National Energy Crisis Committee) and the Eskom board," Vincent…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s ANC alludes to greater central bank jobs focus

NEWS

KOPANO GUMBI SOUTH Africa's African National Congress (ANC) alluded to a greater focus on job creation by the country's central bank in resolutions from its recent national conference but stopped short of calling for its mandate to be changed. ANC officials have for years toyed with the idea of broadening the central bank's mandate as the governing party has struggled to lower the unemployment rate, which officially stands at 33% and is among the world's highest. The resolutions on economic transformation seen by Reuters on Friday said the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) should implement the monetary policy "in a balanced…

Dec

2022

By The African Mirror

Ramaphosa’s power base boosted, but South Africa’s reform path still rocky

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

TIM COCKS PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa's re-election as leader of South Africa's ruling party has strengthened his hold on power, but a core of vocal opponents in its new executive suggests the country's path to much-needed reforms will remain a rocky one. Ramaphosa secured re-election, paving the way for him to run for a second presidential term in 2024, on Monday in a ballot of African National Congress (ANC) members that also chose the party's new National Executive Committee (NECK). That vote sidelined some ministers and others in an anti-Ramaphosa camp loosely connected with Jacob Zuma that, with the ex-president embroiled in battling…

Dec

2022

By The African Mirror

Corruption in South Africa: new book lifts the lid on who profits – and their corporate enablers

LITERATURE

KEITH GOTTSCHALK THE new book The Unaccountables: The Powerful Politicians and Corporations who Profit from Impunity is welcome for the way it contextualises corruption. It shows how politicians and bureaucrats could not implement corruption without their corporate and professional enablers – the accountants, auditors and advocates who make it all possible. The book is the result of a decade of research by Open Secrets and other NGOs. It is edited by Michael Marchant, Mamello Mosiana, Ra’eesa Pather and Hennie van Vuuren (a blend of investigative journalists and activists) and has 11 named contributors. Analytically, it covers four overlapping issues: crimes…

Dec

2022

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s Ramaphosa: from activist to businessman to wounded president

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

TIM COCKS and ALEXANDER WINNING PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa, the anti-apartheid champion who become one of South Africa's wealthiest businessmen and then its most powerful politician, was battling for his political survival. He took on the top job in 2018, vowing to root out corruption and fix the economy. But just as he was about to start fighting for his second term, he was facing calls to quit after an advisory panel found preliminary evidence that he may have committed misconduct. He has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crimes. Ramaphosa was the leading negotiator for the African National Congress…