By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider 

President Cyril Ramaphosa, has come under major scrutiny on Monday from his African National Congress (ANC) compatriots when he remarked that municipalities that are run under the Democratic Alliance (DA) are being taken care of far more than municipalities run by ANC. 

The anger expressed by members of the ANC and various alliance partners, particularly within Gauteng and Limpopo, have even suggested that they may want to remove him from his position. 

The party held a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting this week, where senior members within the committee have been actively plotting his removal, considering their misalignment with DA and the Government of National Unity (GNU).

 The Deputy President of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Mike Shingange described the remarks made by Ramaphosa as “unfortunate” as COSATU is also an alliance partner of the ANC expressed disappointment, as they would have never thought that a leader of the ANC would discount its own organization and make remarks in favour of the rivals of the organization. 

Shingange also argued that the comments were ill-timed, as they come in the midst of challenges regarding service delivery as well as tensions caused by the coalition government. 

The South African Communist Party (SACP), which is also an ally to the ANC, has chosen to stand on the opposite spectrum in regards to Ramaphosa’s comments.

 “The deposing of the president is a rumour we are unwilling to entertain, as we refuse to entertain any political rumours,” said SACP spokesperson Mbulelo Mandlana in regards to their views on President Ramaphosa’s potential removal. 

“Wholesale condemnation of the ANC leadership in local government is as unacceptable as the wholesale praise of the DA leadership,” further argues Mandlana who believes that the scrutiny that comes from within the ANC on its leader is harmful to the organization as a whole. 

President Ramaphosa had sat down with SABC news in order to clarify his remarks stating that his side of the story was not fully told.

 “Municipalities, for instance, in the Western Cape, have clean audits. But in the end, clean audits do not mean clean streets. And I know that many people in the Democratic Alliance got very excited and said, ‘yeah the president said this’. And from a compliance point of view, a number of them are. But from a transformation point of view, they are not really meeting the mark and a number of ANC municipalities meet the mark” said Ramaphosa as per SABC news.