Political analyst Ralph Mathekga has described the inclusion of former president Jacob Zuma and former Home Affairs minister Malusi Gigaba on the ANC’s list of nominees for the National Assembly as a huge embarrassment for party President Cyril Ramaphosa.
There’s speculation that Zuma is not likely to accept nomination because his salary as a Member of Parliament would be less than his current benefits as an ex-president.
Zuma’s name is in 74th spot among the 833 names on the list, which the governing party released at the weekend.
In addition, Zuma faces corruption and other charges related to the 1990s arms deal.
Mathekga says it’s clear that unity remains elusive in the ANC.
“President Ramaphosa is talking about the new dawn, moving on and rebuilding the party but it appears that factionalism is still there.”
” [Cheryl] Carolus for example went on and testified the extent to which Gigaba has been implicated in state capture and then ANC branch members said that we are going to reward Gigaba by actually nominating him.”
“What I find quite disturbing is that those individuals themselves do not make an effort to say we are not available.”
