A senior South African ruling party official who has his sights set on becoming the nation’s next deputy president, and maybe even the top job, says he has a plan to end government prevaricating and fix the struggling economy.
President Cyril Ramaphosa looked be a shoo-in to win a second term as leader of the African National Congress later this month and president in 2024, but is now facing pressure to quit after a panel headed by a former chief justice found there may be grounds to impeach him. There isn’t an obvious successor if he does go, but one name making the rounds is that of Paul Mashatile, the party’s treasurer, who got the most nominations for its No. 2 post.
Mashatile made no secret of his political ambitions in a Nov. 29 interview at Bloomberg’s Johannesburg offices the day before the panel released its report. He began his response to one question by saying: “If I become ANC president...,” before laughing and correcting himself.
