ANC members want Ramaphosa to stay as president: Paul Mashatile

ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile says members of the ruling party want President Cyril Ramaphosa to secure a second term.

Whether Ramaphosa will avail himself to take up the task is a different question, Mashatile told the Progressive Business Forum in Cape Town on Friday.

Mashatile was speaking to business at an ANC organised event after the state of the nation address on Thursday.

He sang Ramaphosa’s praises, saying, among other things, he had tackled corruption head-on and pushed for the appointment of capable and skilled people towards establishing good governance.

This comes as the ANC moves closer to its elective conference in December, where the party will install new leadership.

Though he has not said whether he will be available, it is expected Ramaphosa will stand for another term.

“Members of the ANC feel strongly the president should make himself available for another term to be able to continue with this programme of tackling corruption,” Mashatile said.

“One thing the president has done since he came into office was to tackle corruption head-on and make sure state institutions function optimally.”

Mashatile hailed Ramaphosa for steering the country towards good governance.

“He has been at the forefront of making sure there’s good governance. You can say whatever you like about growing the economy and creating jobs, if there’s no good governance you will not succeed.

“ Let’s have the right people in the right places. When people talk about ‘10 years wasted’, it is  because there wasn’t proper governance. We often did not have the right people in the right jobs.”

Mashatile says under Ramaphosa’s leadership, the country was attractive to investors.

“If you ask me will we succeed to make sure SA becomes a good country where investments and investors are going to be attracted, the answer is, yes, we are on the right path. We are in a situation where investors want to come in because they know t SA is stable and there is good governance,” he said.

Mashatile told the forum this will be an eventful year for the ANC as the party goes to its elective conference.

He said he will avail himself should there be calls for him and other top six members to return for another term.

“The top six will be finishing our five years in office, so we’re stepping down to allow members to elect other people. If they want us to come back, I’m sure we will all make ourselves available.”

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