Cyril Ramaphosa. He is likely to succeed Jacob Zuma as South Africa president. PHOTO | GULSHAN KHAN | AFP
South African deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa
was narrowly elected head of the ruling ANC party Monday, winning a
bruising race that exposed deep rifts within the organisation that led
the fight against apartheid.
Thousands
of raucous Ramaphosa supporters sang and chanted in the conference hall
as rival backers of defeated candidate Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma appeared
dejected.
Ramaphosa won 2,440 votes to Dlamini-Zuma's 2,261.
"We
declare comrade Cyril Ramaphosa the new president of the African
National Congress," an official told party delegates in Johannesburg.
The
victory puts Ramaphosa in line to succeed President Jacob Zuma, whose
reign has been plagued by corruption scandals, economic slowdown and
growing anger at the once-omnipotent party.
The
vote was a long and acrimonious process. Delegates who had travelled
from around South Africa cast their ballots after repeated delays caused
by disputes over who was entitled to vote.
President
Zuma was seen as backing his former wife Dlamini-Zuma, allegedly to
secure protection from prosecution on graft charges after he leaves
office.
But his loyalists did win
senior positions in the vote, including David Mabuza as party deputy
chief, meaning Ramaphosa is likely to face strong internal opposition to
his pro-business reform agenda.
"I hope you will cooperate with the new leadership," Baleka Mbete, party chairwoman, told delegates.
Falling public support
President Zuma stepped down as party chief at the conference but could remain as head of state until the 2019 election.
The
ANC, which has ruled since 1994 when Nelson Mandela won the first
multi-racial vote, faces a struggle to retain its grip on power in the
next election due to falling public support.
"The
party will decide if Zuma goes (before the 2019 election)," Mzwandile
Mkhwanazi, a delegate from KwaZulu-Natal province, told AFP.
"Ramaphosa's
victory is good for the country. We need a stable country, a president
able to fight corruption. We think he is up to the task."
The rand currency pared earlier gains and was 2.8 per cent stronger against the dollar on Monday evening in Johannesburg.
Ramaphosa,
65, is a former trade unionist leader who led talks to end
white-minority rule in the early 1990s and then became a
multi-millionaire businessman before returning to politics.
He is often accused of failing to confront Zuma while serving as his deputy since 2014.
Dlamini-Zuma
was head of the African Union Commission until earlier this year and a
former interior, foreign affairs and health minister.
She had four children with Zuma before divorcing in 1998.
She had four children with Zuma before divorcing in 1998.
'Rebuild party image'
"I
believe Ramaphosa will work to bring back the principles of liberal
politics in the party," Amanda Gouws, politics professor at Stellenbosch
University, told AFP.
"The outcome
of the vote was not easy to call. What is at stake here is unity — the
new leaders need to forge unity and rebuild the image of the party."
Allegations
swirled of delegates being targeted with bribes, but ANC spokesman
Khusela Sangoni told reporters that the process had proceeded
"smoothly".
"I'm bowing out very
happy because I think... I made my contribution," President Zuma, 75,
said on Monday as he walked through the vast conference centre hosting
the five-day event.
Soaring
unemployment and state corruption have fuelled frustration at the ANC
among millions of poor black South Africans who face dire housing,
inadequate education and continuing racial inequality.
Party veteran Zikalala Snuki told AFP: "It's democracy. We are happy that we managed to elect the top leadership.
"We have Ramaphosa, who may be able to steer the ship in the right direction."
The
opposition Democratic Alliance party said that the ANC was "held
together only by the glue of patronage and corruption, and Cyril
Ramaphosa is just a new face to the same old ANC."
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