Mbeki Tells Ramaphosa To Go If Resignation Rumours Are True — Nothing Positive Achieved

Former President Thabo Mbeki fired a devastating broadside at Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday, declaring publicly that stepping down from the Union Buildings would be the correct course of action — if reports circulating inside senior ANC structures carry any truth. The intervention stunned political observers across Johannesburg, arriving from a figure whose own exit from power remains one of the most controversial chapters in South African democratic history.

Mbeki told journalists that rumours suggesting Ramaphosa intends to vacate the presidency deserve serious consideration, adding that nothing constructive emerged during the current administration’s tenure. He stopped short of confirming whether he had spoken directly with Ramaphosa, but his language carried unmistakable weight. Sources close to Luthuli House described the timing as deliberate, noting that internal factions within the ruling party had grown increasingly restless following recent coalition tensions in Parliament.

ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri confirmed the party had taken note of Mbeki’s remarks but stressed that any transition of executive leadership must follow constitutional channels. The Presidency offered no immediate comment. Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Nomthandazo Mbambo stated her directorate had no jurisdiction over statements of a political nature, redirecting queries toward Cabinet’s communications cluster, which remained silent by late afternoon.

Mbeki’s relationship with Ramaphosa stretches back decades through trade-union corridors, liberation-era negotiations, and post-apartheid governance battles. The two men parted bitterly after Polokwane in 2007, when Mbeki lost the ANC presidency and subsequently faced a recall from Thabo Mbeki himself — a bruising sequence that reshaped factional alliances for years. Critics argue his latest pronouncement reflects unresolved personal grievances rather than genuine concern for citizens.

Outside Luthuli House on Wednesday evening, a veteran branch organiser wearing a faded green ANC jacket stood quietly reading the evening edition of a Johannesburg tabloid carrying Mbeki’s photograph. He shook his head slowly, folded the newspaper, and tucked it beneath his arm without uttering a single syllable — a small, wordless verdict on the chaos consuming the movement he had served for thirty years.

Ramaphosa has not addressed the resignation speculation directly. No formal letter, no televised rebuttal, no scheduled briefing. The question hanging over Pretoria tonight is whether this silence signals exhaustion, strategy, or something the country is not yet prepared to hear.

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