Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Ramaphosa Favored to Lead ANC After Zuma
November 25 2015 at 07:30am
By Amy Musgrave and ANA

Johannesburg - Cyril Ramaphosa has emerged as a favourite to succeed Jacob Zuma as president of the ANC, during Cosatu’s congress, with some delegates believing Ramaphosa’s election could unify the federation’s affiliates.

On Tuesday the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) urged the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) to endorse ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa as the next president of the ANC.

Sadtu’s deputy general secretary, Nkosana Dolopi, argued that it has been a tradition in the ANC that the deputy president becomes the president of the party.

“The deputy presidents of the ANC are prepared to become the leaders of the ANC,” he said during the debate on the political report, without naming Ramaphosa.

Zingiswa Losi, who chaired the session, told the congress that Sadtu’s view was not a decision of the congress.

However, the National Health, Education and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) and the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA backed Sadtu’s belief that it was natural for the deputy president to succeed Zuma.

In the report, Cosatu said it was irritated by the continued ill-discipline that manifested in “premature succession” debates for the 2017 ANC national conference, where new party leaders will be elected.

The first deputy president of the Health and Allied Workers Union, Mike Shingange, said supporting the deputy president as the successor would eliminate factionalism in the party.

But the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union cautioned against the congress debating or taking a decision on Ramaphosa. A delegate said: “We believe the matter is very sensitive… it should go back to the CEC (central executive committee)… This platform is too big.”

Although Cosatu’s second deputy president, Zingiswa Losi, cautioned the congress and the media that the submissions on Ramaphosa had not been adopted, most delegates stood up and cheered after Sadtu spoke.

Delegates speaking at the congress were clear that they were fed-up with leaders who did not advance the interests of workers and the slow levels of improvement in their material conditions.

Although Sadtu and the Police and Prison Civil Rights Union has proposed that the SACP should go it alone in the discussion document, the matter was not discussed at congress on Tuesday.

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