Better the devil you know

DEPARTURE: ANC TAKEN OFF GUARD BY RAMAPHOSA'S APPARENT INTENTION TO WALK

- Eric Mthobeli Naki

An artist performs the traditional Gomira Mask Dance as part of the World Heritage Week celebration at the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, India, yesterday.

(AFP)

President Cyril Ramaphosa may want to be released from his top position at the ANC in the run-up to this year's ANC national general council (NGC), but his supporters want to have none of it.

According to well-placed ANC sources, the president planned to voluntarily resign after last weekend's G20 summit, a move that caught the party by surprise and unprepared.

His supporters opposed the decision as they feared his sudden departure would not only cause the party to flounder, but would leave his loyalists in limbo.

"There is fear that without Cyril, the party's performance would even worsen next year [in the local government election] because, rightly or wrongly, that would be perceived by the electorate as an existence of infighting within the ANC.

"Voters don't like a party that has leadership squabbles; they retreat by either staying at home or voting for other parties. That is not what we want," the source said.

The supporters want Ramaphosa to stay on to finish his second and final term, which ends in December 2027.