ASSESSMENTS

Can a New President Salvage South Africa's Ruling Party?

Dec 20, 2017 | 19:10 GMT

New ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa faces the difficult task of pushing pro-market policies to stimulate the economy while not alienating important factions he will need in 2019 elections.

(MUJAHID SAFODIEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • New African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa faces the difficult task of pushing pro-market policies to stimulate the economy while not alienating important factions he will need in 2019 elections.
  • Ramaphosa will focus on revitalizing South Africa's sputtering economy by boosting investor confidence. To accomplish this, he will need to foster more policy certainty in key sectors such as mining.
  • It's possible South African President Jacob Zuma will be forced out of office in the coming months; his fate ultimately rests on his uneasy relationship with the new ANC president.

South Africa's deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has been named the next president of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party. The announcement made Dec. 18 comes after months of brutal political jockeying against rival candidate, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (ex-wife of South African President Jacob Zuma), and following a tense vote recount. The position atop South Africa's revolutionary party is a powerful one, rivaling in influence the country's presidency. But the ANC itself is in disarray, and its support is dwindling. Now Ramaphosa, as its leader, will have the difficult task of trying to unite the party and of balancing constituent demands for more government services with important economic reform measures needed to keep South Africa's economy afloat....

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