Ramaphosa must kick dust on road to 2024 elections – Enoch Godongwana

“If I was in Cyril Ramaphosa’s shoes I would kick dust so that by the time I get to 2024 I leave an ANC which is in power. That is the legacy he must fight for.”

Those were the words of finance minister Enoch Godongwana after Ramaphosa’s re-election as ANC president where he beat political opponent Zweli Mkhize by 579 votes.

Godongwana said during his second term, Ramaphosa should affirm and strengthen his power because he’s not contesting any election after this.

“What’s to his advantage is he’s not going to come back for an election to the ANC. If he wants to carry things out and he wants to be strict, deal with us and put us in line… he can’t say I’m worried about his comrades and say they’re not going to vote for me. That is to his advantage."

Described by Ramaphosa as a watershed moment, Godongwana said the ANC’s 55th elective conference was mild compared to the 2007 and 2017 conferences.

“It has been far lighter than those conferences, even on substantive debates it has been far lighter than that. There’s a level of maturity in terms of how to handle things.”

For the ANC, the road ahead is 2024 where the party’s electoral support is anticipated to decline even further.

On this, Godongwana said the loss of support was mostly in metros and not rural areas, adding that conference should come out with concrete plans.

“Where we’ve seen the most electoral decline is in the metros and that decline isn’t that people are going to other parties but people who would vote for ANC have disengaged because there’s disgruntlement because we’ve not delivered services here and there.

“The first question that must confront the NEC [national executive committee] is how are we going to hit the ground to understand the challenges, how do we make the necessary interventions and so that by the time people have come to vote they are with us,” he said.