Johannesburg - ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa has downplayed the problems besieging the governing party.
He said talk that the ANC was facing a crisis in the wake of the Nkandla scandal and the launch of the Vote No campaign by some of its stalwarts, among others, was analysts’ and the media’s perceptions.
Ramaphosa said on Sunday only the voters would judge the party in the May 7 elections.
“What we are saying outside of the theatre of election is just speculation. It’s just analytical exercises. The final decider and arbiter is the people of our country.
“Like any other political party, the ANC has faced its own challenges (and) it has had great successes. In the end, like any other political organisation, it has waded its way through all these difficulties.
“The ANC has always emerged stronger, much stronger after an election, and that is what you are going to see.”
Ramaphosa dismissed ANC stalwarts Ronnie Kasrils and Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge’s Sidikiwe! Vukani! Vote No campaign in protest against corruption, saying it was bound to fail.
“They are now, out of desperation, embarking on ineffectual campaigns that will go nowhere. We will not be diverted by erstwhile (ANC) members who are angry (and) disappointed.
“We don’t believe that their campaign will take off. In fact, what they are trying to do is actually going to encourage more people to vote for the ANC. So their campaign is going to be counterproductive in the end.”
Ramaphosa was also asked about Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe’s statements that the Nkandla scandal had hurt the ANC.
“That’s what the deputy president of the Republic said and I think you should go and ask him. Our view is that the Nkandla issue is being handled (and) we are proceeding with it. It has not reached its final point, where one can finally declare. So it’s still under management and is now in Parliament.”
On whether the ANC would gain a two-thirds majority in the elections, he said: “Without doubt, a two-thirds majority is in sight.”
The Star