Run, Cyril, Run!

I've often wondered why Cyril Ramaphosa chose to leave South African politics so quickly after 1994. After all, it is not overstatement to assert that Ramaphosa may have been the single most vital figure in the negotiated transition from National Party to ANC rule. He managed to develop a personal relationship based on trust and goodwill with Roelf Meyer, the young moderate Nat politician that the two relied upon when things seemed to get bogged down. Nonetheless, Ramaphosa went on the become a poster child for BEE, Black Economic Empowerment, as his savvy, contacts, charisma, and intelligence have made him into an overwhelming business success story.

Now there are rumors that Ramaphosa is positioning himself to be Thabo Mbeki's successor, a position long assumed to be Jacob Zuma's for the taking before his various legal and ethical imbroglios. But in an odd twist that will be utterly alien to American readers, who are so accustomed to trial balloons and wiggle-room denials from our politicians that even those denials manage to raise someone's stock (ask Al Gore, barack Obama, and Condi Rice), some in South Africa, and especially in the Ramaphosa camp, see allegations that he might be running as evidence of a conspiracy against him. Odder still, those conspiracy theories might have legs, as the whole context carries with it a strange smell.

Of course, on the flip side, oom Krisjan Lemmer points out that flattery has been afoot. To wit:

A visit to Cyril’s entry [hyperlink added - dcat] turned up a curious final paragraph: “Many people in South Africa, both prominent voices and ordinary citizens, view Ramaphosa as the next president of the country. He is seen as an intelligent, well educated man with the skills necessary to lead the country into cementing its young vibrant democracy.” Intriguingly, this little flourish of objective biography was added a fortnight ago. Lemmer doesn’t need to remind readers that Wikipedia is compiled from readers’ submissions; and he can only assume that when “prominent voices and ordinary citizens” aren’t daydreaming about Cyril, they’re online.

Whatever the political machinations, Ramphosa's possible entry back into ANC politics would make for a decisive moment. Ramaphosa has the bona fides from the struggle, the support of the rank and file, the portfolio for the economic community, the negotiating savvy from the transition, and the respect of seemingly everyone. If I were to make a prediction, and I will, it is that Cyril Ramaphosa will be South Africa's third post-Apartheid president.