Mashatile dismisses leadership change rumours, backs Ramaphosa's term

President Cyril Ramaphosa would remain in office until he finishes his term, Deputy President Paul Mashatile said on Thursday.

Speaking at a breakfast session with the Parliamentary Press Gallery in Parliament, Mashatile said next week’s ANC National General Council (NGC) will not deal with issues of leadership.

“These are matters that will go to conference, so this should not really be a preoccupation,” he said.

Mashatile acknowledged that Ramaphosa had told the National Executive Committee (NEC) that there were some among NEC members who were plotting that he should be removed or resign.

“The president raised this himself in the NEC, that he has come across that, but obviously, the NEC decided that such a move would not be supported.

“The president has been elected to stay until he finishes his tenure. So that is our position at the moment.”

Mashatile insisted that Ramaphosa was not going anywhere.

“He is staying and continues to lead.”

A report in a Sunday newspaper suggested two deputy ministers as the brains behind the plot to oust Ramaphosa, but these claims have met with denials.

Mashatile said that because Ramaphosa did not mention the names of people allegedly plotting against him, “they will remain nameless as long as they have not been officially mentioned”.

He was adamant that Ramaphosa worked very well with the entire ANC leadership, focusing currently on the challenges of local government.

According to Mashatile, the 2026 local government elections were the ANC’s biggest focus at the moment because they have dysfunctional municipalities.

“We have to spend a lot of time focusing on those areas. Even before the elections, we are already working on those areas.”

Mashatile would not be drawn to comment on his presidential ambitions.

He said in the ANC, it was members who decided on who should lead.

“The ANC said that the question is put aside until we are done with local government elections. Once we are done, the process of succession will be open, and then the branches of the ANC will decide who should lead the ANC going forward. We can begin with that question at that time.”

He also said their goal is to win most of the municipalities in the upcoming local government elections.

“The ANC will focus most of its efforts in the metros and secondary cities, but we will also field candidates in rural municipalities as well.”

Outlining the ANC’s approach in the run-up to the elections, Mashatile said they want party members to connect with ordinary citizens and look at challenges throughout the country.

He noted that there was no longer load shedding, but there was “load reduction” due to transformers exploding because of illegal connections, a move prompting residents to complain about not getting electricity.

“We are busy looking at it and saying, we can only solve this by working with municipalities on the ground, because they are there, they can serve us, get communities to guard these facilities, and they are not destroyed.”

However, Mashatile noted that the ANC faced financial challenges amid the Political Funding Act that required parties to declare donations of certain amounts.

“People want to donate to parties, but they don't want to be published that they are donating.” 

Mashatile said that while the ANC received political funding from the government via Parliament by virtue of its proportional representation, it was not enough.

“We are engaging the Minister of Finance to look at increasing funding for political parties. It's not only the ANC, but other parties will tell you the same.”

He said the ANC was asking its members to contribute as much as they can towards the party’s finances.

The recently held national meeting of ANC councillors saw provinces pay for the cost of their delegation, and the treasurer-general only dealt with the venue and refreshments costs.

“We are doing the same with the coming National General Council,” Mashatile said.

He added that the ANC was trying to introduce the culture of being self-sufficient, because the era of getting support from businesses was no longer there since the introduction of the law requiring disclosure of donors to parties.

“I think the ANC would survive. We would make a plan to ensure that the finances that are required are raised. It is not just the problem of the treasurer-general, but the entire leadership would work together to deal with it.” 

mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za