Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa in show of unity

"The former president's been at the forefront of the ANC's election campaign in KwaZulu-Natal. Alongside President Cyril Ramaphosa, Zuma's taken part in a number of events to mark the party's 107th birthday. Courtesy #Dstv403"

I was recently invited to speak on eNCA about South Africa's ruling party's 107 Anniversary celebrations and the controversies surrounding the event particular the former President of the country, Jacob Zuma. A key point of discussion in the interview was the relationship between Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa as the ruling party was campaigning in the KwaZulu-Natal province ahead of its manifesto launch.

Since Jacob Zuma's forced resignation in February 2018, and the ascension of Cyril Ramaphosa to the position of head of state; the shadow of the controversial former president has lingered over the ANC and its current leader's ambition to sell his vision of a 'New Dawn'. With the ANC's new President Cyril needing to show his leadership and grip on power it was always going to be an odious task heading into the region which is the key base of his predecessor Jacob Zuma and competitor at Nasrec, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. There had been worries ahead of Ramaphosa's campaign in the province of key allies of Zuma who have not been happy with the way he has been treated may have sabotaged the campaign train of the ANC's current President. As a result of this Ramaphosa has been forced into a position of bringing into the scandal ridden Zuma along side him in his campaign.

While Zuma is facing serious allegations of corruption, with a case on fraud and racketeering in May 2019; he still has a massive popular following in KwaZulu-Natal where the ANC has the largest number of branches. Ramaphosa needed to avoid further fracturing in the highly factional ANC, by sidelining Zuma. So in a show of unity and reconciliation, Ramaphosa and Zuma were seen together campaigning for the ANC in the region and trying their best to show that there was no bitterness between them.