DID DAVID MABUZA BETRAY THE RET STRUGGLE IN FAVOUR OF CYRIL RAMAPHOSA?

 DID DAVID MABUZA BETRAY THE RADICAL ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION STRUGGLE?

INRTRODUCTION

The former State Deputy President David Dabede Mabuza passed away on Thursday the 3rd of July 2025.

This is after a short illness we've been told.

As with any passing of a public figure , especially a political leader who was at some stage the African National Congress(ANC) provincial chairperson and Premier in the province of Mpumalanga.

He later on ascended to the position of the ANC Deputy President and to that of the country's Deputy President in the year 2018 until his resignation in the year 2023. There is already a heated debate or discussions in the country regarding David Mabuza's legacy as a public figure and leader of both the political party(ANC) and government.

Indeed his appears to be a contested legacy, as it is to be expected.

I wish to put it upfront that this piece is not aimed at "talking ill of the dead" who cannot be able to defend themselves, but it is rather aimed at providing an informative analysis of the man and leader that David Mabuza was.

THESIS

David Mabuza the man who betrayed the struggle and movement for Radical Economic Transformation.

One of the key things David Mabuza will be remembered for is his role in the ascendence to the Crown of the current ANC and State President Cyril Ramaphosa in the ANC 54th Elective Conference in Nasrec in 2017.

Prior to the ANC 54th  National Elective Conference it was public knowledge that David Mabuza who at the time was the ANC Mpumalanga provincial chairperson was one of the key leaders in the Radical Economic Transformation camp within the ANC. He was part of a lobby group known as the "premier league" which was constituted by the premiers and provincial chairpersons of the Free State(Ace Magashule), North West(Supra Mahumapelo) and Mpumalanga(David Mabuza).

This was a very strong and powerful lobby behind the faction known as the Radical Economic Transformation.

The RET faction was known to be staunch supporters of the then ANC and State President Jacob Zuma.

In the lead up to that ANC 54th Elective Conference the RET group was supporting Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma for the president of the ANC to succeed the out going Jacob Zuma.

Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma(NDZ 17) was up against the then ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa(CR 17).

All indicators before and during the conference pointed to Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma as a clear favorite , this was up until the day before the voting took place when David Mabuza and the Mpumalanga delegation he was leading started talking about backing a candidate they termed "UNITY".

As it was later to be discovered when the results were announced and Cyril Ramaphosa was announced as the new ANC president, that infact David Mabuza had turned his back on Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma in the last minutes.

Of course it is now public knowledge that Ramaphosa's campaign received over R1 billion from the White Monopoly Capital. Could it be that some of that money was used to buy David Mabuza?

With all indicators pointing to the betrayal of the RET struggle by David Mabuza.

ANTI-THESES

David Mabuza has been presented as a  man of his word by those who worked closely with him and those who got to benefit from the services that came as Mabuza's instructions.

DD Mabuza the man who saved the ANC and the country from the RET brigades as we know this group has been painted corrupt by the various mainstream media platforms and their so-called analysts and experts.

So Mabuza's last minute turn against Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has been hailed as a momentous move which altered the history of this country.

SYNTHESIS

What we learn from David Mabuza and his legacy is that a human being is very complex and has to be studied in detail.

The take away is that David Mabuza  played a significant role in getting Cyril Ramaphosa elected ANC president and therefore paving the way for Ramaphosa to be state president.

By doing this David Mabuza betrayed the struggle for Radical Economic Transformation as Ramaphoisa is a known opponent of RET.

David Mabuza did good to other sections of the population and that is what they will remember him for.

By

Teboho Sekhosana

Political, Labour and Social analyst.

sekhosanatebohottlabourconsultancyla@gmail.com

084 436 1494

063 039 4468