In his two-day testimony, President Cyril Ramaphosa had to balance between re-establishing internal and public trust in the ANC, and avoid being seen as a sell-out by his comrades and numerous detractors in the party.
Ramaphosa made a calculated gamble when he became the first sitting president in South Africa’s recent history to appear before a judicial commission of inquiry this week.
“It’s not everyone who will have that kind of courage, who will have their testimony in public and under scrutiny, and for some people, it’s career-limiting,” he told the body that was established to probe large-scale corruption — or state capture — during what he termed as “nine wasted years” under his predecessor, Jacob Zuma.
Allegations of serious corruption under Zuma’s watch started surfacing in 2011, two years after he became president, and a year before he was re-elected party president, with
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