Cyril Ramaphosa is still standing not because he is unbeatable. He is standing because he is the main meal ticket for too many powerful people in the ANC, writes Zukile Majova in Real Politics.
That reality became clear again after the Constitutional Court ruling on the Phala Phala matter. The ANC National Executive Committee quickly rallied behind him instead of questioning his future.
This is very different from what happened to Thabo Mbeki in 2008 and Jacob Zuma in 2018. Both men were removed when the party believed it could survive without them. Ramaphosa’s position is different.
Much of the current ANC leadership rose through the CR17 campaign that carried him to victory at Nasrec in 2017. Many ministers, premiers, deputy ministers, mayors and NEC members did not build strong independent support bases. They advanced as part of Ramaphosa’s political machine. Their futures became tied to his.
If Ramaphosa falls, many of them fall too.
That is why the NEC no longer behaves like an independent structure capable of disciplining a president from a distance. It is filled with leaders whose influence depends on remaining inside the Ramaphosa coalition. In many ways, he has become the glue holding together an increasingly fragile patronage network.
Mbeki was recalled after losing control of the party at Polokwane. Zuma was pushed out when state capture scandals became an electoral threat before 2019. Ramaphosa survives because many fear the party may not survive without him.
But this political protection comes with a price.
Ramaphosa entered office promising a new dawn built on accountability and clean government. Yet several people linked to scandals exposed at the Zondo Commission remain influential in government and the party. Figures associated with Bosasa and the VBS Mutual Bank scandal continue to cast a shadow over his administration.
Every time a compromised official survives politically, the public sees another example of the ANC protecting its own. The same alliances keeping Ramaphosa in office also limit how far he can act against corruption.
His importance now stretches beyond his party.
After the ANC’s poor 2024 election performance, the Government of National Unity became a survival pact. Ramaphosa’s moderate image and business background made him the only ANC leader acceptable enough to opposition parties like the DA. Without him, the coalition could become unstable very quickly.
That is why coalition politics are now shaping decisions inside government.
The DA recently showed its growing influence when it pushed for action against Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe over allegations surrounding her conduct. The ANC itself showed little appetite to move against her. Yet pressure from coalition partners forced Ramaphosa to respond.
That moment sent a clear message. The DA wanted proof it could influence government decisions inside the coalition. It got that proof. The precedent now exists for coalition partners to demand action against other compromised ministers.
Ramaphosa also remains the ANC’s strongest national campaign figure heading into the 2026 local government elections. In a fractured political landscape, he still offers a level of stability and international credibility few others inside the party can match.
The ANC is protecting Ramaphosa for the same reason passengers protect a leaking lifeboat during a storm. They are already inside it.
That is the real difference between Ramaphosa and his predecessors.
Mbeki was removed because the party believed it could renew itself without him. Zuma was removed because the party feared it would collapse with him. Ramaphosa survives because today’s ANC fears it may not survive without him at all.
But this is not sustainable.
A leader protected mainly because he is everyone’s political meal ticket cannot drive deep reform or ruthless accountability. The alliances that protect him are the same alliances preventing meaningful renewal.
South Africans deserve more than stability built on patronage and selective accountability. Real renewal will only come when the ANC moves beyond factional slates and political dependency, and rebuilds itself around competence, integrity and accountability.
Until then, Ramaphosa will remain exactly where he is. Protected not by invincibility, but by the number of political careers tied to his survival.
Zukile Majova and Rob Rose go deeper on the Phala Phala ruling and why Ramaphosa is not going anywhere in this week’s episode of Sharp Sharp, the podcast from Scrolla and Currency. They also discuss what a Ramaphosa presidency is actually worth and what comes next for the ANC. Find Sharp Sharp wherever you get your podcasts.
Pictured above: Cyril Ramaphosa.
Image source: File
