Johannesburg – Former finance minister and ANC member Malusi Gigaba has called for someone else to lead the ANC, after the dismal performance of current ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Gigaba said things have been worse in the past five years or so, adding that the country’s electricity crisis, which has been placed at stage six today, and the fragmented ANC were reasons enough for a new leader to take the party forward to emerge.
Gigaba’s comments come after EFF leader Julius Malema called on the ANC to give ANC Deputy President David Mabuza a chance to lead the ANC and the country, following the Section 89 independent panel report, which found that the president has a prima facie case to answer for the Phala Phala farm robbery.
“If DD Mabuza was a murderer, why did Ramaphosa appoint him as his deputy? If DD is corrupt, why did Ramaphosa appoint him as his deputy?” Malema asked at a media briefing on Monday.
On Wednesday, Gigaba, when asked if Ramaphosa was still the right man to lead the ANC for a second term ahead of the ANC’s 55th national conference at Nasrec next week, said he believes Ramaphosa must step aside and let someone else lead the governing party.
Gigaba was speaking during an interview on Newzroom Afrika on Wednesday.
“I think that the experience of the past five years… People must not be judged on the basis of whether you like them or not. You must judge them on the basis of their track record. We have had unprecedented load shedding. We have had unprecedented unemployment.
“The economy has been stagnant. The country has been undergoing prolonged periods and processes of fiscal austerity. The ANC is more divided today than it has ever been.
“We have had almost four years of interim structures existing even as we go to conference next week. The ANC does not have a secretary-general (SG). We do not have a deputy SG…
“We have three, if not four interim structures that are attending the conference. Actually, we have about five. The Western Cape, Free State, the Veterans League, the Women’s League, and the ANC Youth League. Surely that experience should say to us, ”We cannot say that we are going to disregard all of what has happened in the past five years and demand a repeat of the previous five years. We can’t have the next five years of that look like the previous five years,” Gigaba remarked.
The Star