Inside the Quiet Coup: The Secret Plan to Oust Ramaphosa and Why It’s Unraveling

A New Power Struggle Brews in the ANC

The ANC has weathered internal battles for decades, but a plan quietly circulating in WhatsApp groups and political caucuses has jolted the ruling party once again. According to Sunday World, a letter shared among senior ANC members in the Eastern Cape proposes nothing less than a political earthquake:
Remove President Cyril Ramaphosa, disband the NEC, and install a national task team led by Thabo Mbeki.

It reads like the script of a palace coup, dramatic, destabilising, and impossible to ignore.

Behind closed doors, some insiders are calling it a “rescue plan.”
Veterans, however, have described it as something far more dangerous.

Zikalala Sounds the Alarm

ANC Veterans League president Snuki Zikalala didn’t mince his words. He called the plot “covert and divisive,” and insisted that any attempt to remove the president is nothing but factional troublemaking.

“We are behind the president,” he said firmly.
“As far as we are concerned, he must finish his term.”

The Veterans League is often seen as the organisation’s moral compass, so for its leader to step in publicly shows the severity of the moment.

G20 Rumours Add to the Fire

Fueling the political storm are whispers that Ramaphosa plans to step down after South Africa hands the G20 presidency to the United States next month. On social media, the rumour gained traction, stirring anxiety about leadership uncertainty during a fragile economic period.

But Zikalala says the story has no foundation and the president has expressed no desire to leave office before 2027.

Ramaphosa’s Ally Breaks His Silence

Bejani Chauke, Ramaphosa’s advisor and special envoy, also stepped in to quash the speculation.
His message was blunt:
The president is not stepping down. Full stop.

He described the rumour as an attack on South Africa’s preparation for hosting the continent’s first-ever G20 Summit.

Chauke painted Ramaphosa as a stabiliser a leader committed to clean governance, independent courts, and judicial commissions. He also reminded critics that South Africa’s Constitution allows a president two terms, and Ramaphosa is only in his second.

In short:
Ramaphosa isn’t going anywhere unless Parliament says so.

Public Reaction: Confusion, Fatigue, and Political Déjà Vu

On X (formerly Twitter), reactions ranged widely:

• “Not this again,” some users sighed, recalling previous ANC succession battles.

• Others speculated that certain factions fear accountability reforms in the GNU era.

• And a number of South Africans simply joked that “the ANC fights itself more than the opposition”.

There is a general sense of déjà vu the same internal power wrangling that toppled Jacob Zuma now hovers over Ramaphosa, albeit with different players and stakes.

The Mbeki Factor: Myth or Serious Proposal?

The notion of bringing back Thabo Mbeki as head of a national task team sounds fantastical but it reflects something deeper.

Within parts of the ANC, there is nostalgia for the Mbeki years: economic growth, policy consistency, and the last era before the corruption avalanche of the late 2000s.

But Mbeki is not universally beloved. His complicated legacy on HIV/AIDS and his fallout with Jacob Zuma remain fresh political scars.

The plan’s credibility is questionable but its existence exposes widening cracks in the party’s leadership base.

Frans Cronje: Removing Ramaphosa Makes “Zero Political Sense”

Political analyst Dr. Frans Cronje offers a calmer interpretation. According to him, nothing credible suggests Ramaphosa is preparing to resign. His assessment remains unchanged:

Ramaphosa will likely lead until the ANC’s 2027 elective conference and exit in late 2027 or early 2028.

Cronje also points out a political reality often ignored in factional dramas:

• Ramaphosa holds favourability among roughly half of South African voters, and

• A staggering 84% approval rating among ANC supporters.

No potential successor not even close competes with those numbers.

“Letting him go now would be madness,” Cronje warns, adding that his resignation would spook markets, weaken the economy, and hurt the ANC’s performance in the 2026 municipal elections.

In simple terms:
The ANC cannot afford to remove its most electorally valuable leader.

A Party at War With Its Own Reflections

Ultimately, this story reveals less about Ramaphosa himself and more about the ANC’s internal identity crisis.

The Veterans League wants stability.
Some regional leaders want a reset.
Analysts see no strategic sense in his removal.
And social media sees chaos.

Ramaphosa remains for now the glue holding together a fractured ruling party navigating coalition politics, global pressure, and domestic frustrations.

But the fact that a letter proposing a Mbeki-led task team is circulating at all suggests something deeper:

The old ANC consensus is gone. The party is searching for itself and sometimes, that fight spills into the open.

{Source: BusinessTech}

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