Deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted that "state capture is the elephant in the room" at a Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) committee meeting on Tuesday morning in Pretoria. Ramaphosa said that state capture was "eating the ANC away".
#Ramaphosa said State Capture is eating the ANC away. @HuffPostSA
— Amil Umraw (@Amil_Umraw) May 30, 2017
#Ramaphosa: "State Capture is the elephant in the room". @HuffPostSA
— Amil Umraw (@Amil_Umraw) May 30, 2017
The deputy president furthered that the ruling party's internal battle was being caused mainly as a result of state capture.
#Ramaphosa said ANC infighting over power and positions is primarily because of State Capture. @HuffPostSA
— Amil Umraw (@Amil_Umraw) May 30, 2017
Last week, Cosatu banned President Jacob Zuma from speaking at any of their future activities -- a move widely accepted as a victory for Cyril Ramaphosa and his camp.
According to labour expert Professor Andries Bezuidenhout, the strong anti-Zuma sentiment expressed by the SACP and Cosatu especially, is a symbolic issue which will have long term ramifications for Zuma's ANC.
"Cosatu's voice in the tripartite alliance is still important because of the political muscle they still have as a functioning organisation," Bezuidenhout said. "These are symbolic issues, and a major victory for the Ramaphosa camp."
Bezuidenhout questioned the federation's internal unity, saying this will determine its ability to back their preferred candidates at the ANC's national conference in December.