President Cyril Ramaphosa is reportedly battling a significant challenge to his leadership within the African National Congress (ANC), with allegations surfacing that deputy ministers Mondli Gungubele and Joe Phaahla are at the centre of a plot to remove him from power.
The dramatic situation came to a head at a recent ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting, where Ramaphosa, in what has been described as a "meltdown", seemingly directed his ire at Gungubele and Phaahla. According to multiple NEC members, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Ramaphosa did not explicitly name the duo, but his pointed gaze towards them as he stated, “I am aware of comrades in this very room lobbying for my removal because they are unhappy with their positions”, left little room for interpretation.
Sources suggest that Ramaphosa’s preemptive strike only bought him a temporary reprieve, as the rebellion remains active, with the alleged plotters regrouping for a second attempt that could occur as early as this week. Though his reaction to the alleged ploy scuttled the planned vote of no confidence, the plotters, with the backing of at least 60 of the 80-member NEC, were planning to try their luck again.
Gungubele and Phaahla are understood to be aggrieved by their demotion to deputy minister positions in the government of national unity (GNU). Before being moved to accommodate the GNU, Gungubele served as minister in the presidency for 17 months, followed by a stint as communications minister, before Khumbudzo Ntshavheni took over the presidency job. Gungubele now serves as deputy to the DA’S Solly Malatsi, who is the minister of communications and digital technologies. Phaahla, formerly the health minister, was replaced by Aaron Motsoaledi in June last year.
Sources say this profound personal disappointment fuelled the duo’s push to oust the president.
“The meltdown by CR in the last NEC is a setback; it was a preemptive strike because he was panicking. We are going to try to take a second bite,” a wellplaced plotter confirmed, framing the coming weeks as crucial for the battle to control the ANC.
The plotters’ strategy for the upcoming NEC meeting hinges on securing firmer commitments from their support base and guarantees of cabinet positions in whatever rises out of the dust of Ramaphosa’s fall.
“The problem is that although the majority of comrades are in agreement that CR must go, the divergence is self-preservation because those inside want to keep their positions and those outside want to become ministers when the man goes,” said another informant. “So, while some are well-meaning and are interested in saving the ANC, others are doing it for their own personal reasons, and there is the issue of succession as well. The motion for the amendment of the agenda had been moved, but comrades chickened out. So we will try again in the next NEC [meeting].”
The masterminds blamed their failure to execute the mission the first time around on this absence of firmer commitments.
Several NEC members have indicated that they were aware Ramaphosa’s salvo was aimed at Gungubele and Phaahla, as the two had allegedly recruited them to support the president’s ouster.
The rebellion’s resilience stems from the fact that Gungubele and Phaahla are merely the public face of a much larger “denialist” faction within the ANC, a group of senior cadres who refuse to accept the party’s electoral decline and the necessary compromises of the GNU.
“There is a group of comrades who are denialists and refuse to accept that the ANC did not get an outright majority [in the 2024 elections]. This is the group that believes they should have been accommodated one way or the other,” said another leader.
This faction provides the ideological backbone and political protection that allows the plot to survive. While the deputy ministers are the ones accused, the plot is understood to have the tacit blessing of more powerful figures aligned with the party’s radical economic transformation wing, who view Ramaphosa’s centrist GNU pact as a betrayal of the party's core principles. Their ultimate goal is reportedly to install an interim leader who would steer the party away from its alliance with the DA and back towards a more traditional nationalist platform.
In response to these challenges, Ramaphosa’s allies are reportedly working on a strategy to isolate the plotters by highlighting the potential economic risks of another leadership crisis to wavering NEC members, while simultaneously projecting an image of unity.
However, some Ramaphosa sympathisers believe he overreacted, arguing that Gungubele’s and Phaahla’s discontent was already widely known.
“He (Ramaphosa) was never going to mention names, but he is, in fact, out of order because there is no need to panic. The plot is, in fact, old; hence, some of us were surprised that he behaved the way he did. It is a fallout from the GNU cabinet because comrades could not be accommodated,” said a Ramaphosa loyalist, who believes the no-confidence motion would have been defeated.
The personal grievances at the heart of the alleged plot have been laid bare by sources, who detailed the deputies’ sense of humiliation.
“Dr Phaahla, for instance, confided at home that he was in disbelief that CR took umshini (the health ministry) back to Aaron, as if Aaron is special. That is what he is quarrelling about; he feels undermined. Then there is Bra Mondli, who believes that it was unfair to take the communications ministry from him and give it to the DA and then make him deputy to a newcomer.”
Deep throats close to Ramaphosa confirmed that his NEC speech was directed at Gungubele and Phaahla, saying that the president had long been aware of their grievances.
Another Ramaphosa confidante expressed confidence that the plot would fail if its protagonists attempted to revive it. “CR is not going anywhere. Why must he go? Because certain people want power?” said the angry leader who is close to Ramaphosa. “CR must continue to expose them. These people are crazy. CR will only leave when he wants to. We want to see them try.”
In response to the allegations, Gungubele dismissed the claims as “hogwash”, noting that Ramaphosa did not mention any names, daring anyone to openly accuse him. Phaahla could not be reached for comment.
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