Ramphosa’s Supporters Come Under Fire, President Calls for South Africans to Defend Constitution and Democracy

• President Cyril Ramaphosa has written an open letter to South Africans encouraging them to defend their democracy from the threats that face it
• Stan Mathabatha has received criticism from the ANC for supporting the president's plan to run for a second term in 2024
• The Limpopo chairperson said that his support of Ramaphosa is based on the president continually championing democracy

PRETORIA - Following suit from Lindiwe Sisulu, who published two op-ed articles last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa has written an open letter to South Africans, published on News24.

Ramaphosa's article focused on encouraging South Africans to defend their democracy from the threats that face it, including corruption, attacks on the judiciary and state capture.

In his letter, the president referred to the passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Parliament fire and State Capture Report. He explained that the thread connecting these events is that they represent changes needed in South Africa to ensure the sustainability of constitutional democracy.

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Ramphosa's letter and consequences for his supporters

Stan Mathabatha, the chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC) in Limpopo, has publicly declared his support for Ramaphosa's campaign to obtain a second term in office, IOL reports. However, Mathabatha has received criticism from the ANC for making this declaration before the ruling party has officially announced its 2024 election candidate.

The Limpopo chairperson said that his support of Ramaphosa is based on the president continually championing democracy, as he expressed in his open letter. Ramaphosa said that South Africans must work together to subvert attacks on the country's democracy and the integrity of the Constitution.

"We need to protect our Constitution, our democratic state and the electoral process from anyone who wants to weaken our democracy and deny the South African people their hard-won freedom," Ramaphosa wrote.

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Reactions to the president's open letter

@TimAnkh666 asked:

"What freedom are you referring to?"

@54Battalion remarked:

"Be man enough and talk to Lindiwe Sisulu directly and stop irritating us."

@PeterFr19406872 believes:

"What we need is honest leadership. We don’t have a democracy, we have a corrupt ANC, we actually have a mockery."

@John_Hlatse said:

"Fire her."

@Captain70014549 shared:

"Protect it from you and your corrupt judges."

Ramaphosa endorsed by ANC for 2nd terms, but Niehaus says no

In earlier news about Ramaphosa, Briefly News reported that Carl Niehaus has expressed his disapproval of President Cyril Ramaphosa and said that the president should not be allowed to run for a second term in office.

This follows the ANC declaring their support of Ramaphosa at their 110th anniversary in Limpopo on 8 January. Niehaus said that the ANC's support of Ramaphosa's second term run was premature and amounts to a bad political strategy.

He added that the ruling party are creating the impression that Ramphosa serving a second term in office is inevitable and that he stands unopposed within the ANC. According to Niehaus, the ANC is currently fragile and there is a possibility that a power struggle or contestation of presidential candidates can cause the party to collapse.

Source: Briefly News