US President Joe Biden hosted dozens of delegations from African countries in Washington this week. The US-Africa Summit should renew the US commitment and partnership with Africa.
But among all the heads of state and government, one absence stood out. Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of the economically strongest and only representative of Africa among the G20 countries, did not make the trip to Washington. The reason for this was South Africa’s internal political problems, for which Ramaphosa himself and his party, the African National Congress (ANC), are mainly to blame.
The 70-year-old president has narrowly escaped the opposition’s impeachment process, but there are no signs of calming waters for him and his divided party. At the ANC party conference this weekend, trouble is now threatening.
The career of the multi-millionaire and trade union founder at South Africa’s top is off to a promising start. In 2018, Ramaphosa succeeded corrupt and scandalous President Jacob Zuma. Both came from the anti-apartheid struggle and were members of the huge ANC collector party for decades. However, Ramaphosa, who had previously served as vice-president under Zuma, took over the reins of government with a promise to drain the deep swamp of corruption in the Cape Republic, for which Zuma was partly responsible, and to end misrule.
moderate success
So far, however, Ramaphosa and the ANC have had only limited success. Since he took office, several corruption scandals have come to light. But South Africa’s problems are not limited to illegal influence and corrupt party officials.
The country has also suffered for years from chronic energy supply problems. The responsible state utility Eskom is in the dark red. The necessary maintenance and renovation of the troubled coal-fired power plants did not materialize. The main reason for this was the years of corruption of former President Jacob Zuma. A legacy that Ramaphosa has promised to surpass—what he has yet to do. The power supply was cut off for hours almost every day in 2022 alone.
But that’s not all: the unemployment rate was over 34% in 2021 and, according to the International Monetary Fund, it is expected to rise by more than 38% by 2027. Two thirds of young people aged 15 to 24 do not have no regulated wage employment. The trend since Ramaphosa took office in 2018 is picking up. More than half of South Africa’s 55 million people live below the poverty line.
image in ruins
However, the lack of reforms in the economy and energy sector and the lack of progress in the fight against inequality and poverty can also be attributed in part to the devastating economic difficulties caused by the Covid pandemic. Furthermore, Ramaphosa faces vehement resistance from its own ranks. Although the ANC holds the majority of parliamentary seats, the faction supporting Zuma remains a major force in the party four years after his resignation and continues to attack Ramaphosa.
And now accusations of corruption have also been leveled against Ramaphosa, the self-declared clean man: According to the former head of the secret service, the president accumulated large sums of money in his farm and therefore possibly violated applicable laws. This was also the reason for the impeachment proceedings against him – which the ANC with its majority in parliament rejected.
However, Ramaphosa, whose image as a beacon of hope is crumbling, now faces the next hurdle. The ANC’s multi-day party congress kicked off in Johannesburg on Friday. Within four days, around 4,000 members will vote for the party’s president. The cries of protest and disruptive actions that accompanied his opening speech showed that Ramaphosa will have to fight hard for this.(jm)