Former trade union leader turned billionaire Cyril Ramaphosa has just been elected president of the African National Congress (ANC). In a historic electoral conference, he defeated his rival, Dr. Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma (NDZ) — medical doctor, former African Union president, and current president Jacob Zuma’s ex-wife and anointed successor. But, Ramaphosa’s victory is Pyrrhic. The top six top positions of the ANC’s most powerful body — the National Executive Committee — are split down the middle between Zuma and Ramaphosa’s factions, resulting in a stalemate dubbed “unity.”

Ramaphosa’s supporters have heralded his victory as a triumph over the corruption, criminality, incompetence, and repression that have characterized Zuma’s unmitigated disaster of a presidency. Once a darling of the Left, Ramaphosa’s reputation will forever be stained by his involvement in the Marikana massacre. In the days preceding the massacre, he petitioned the government on behalf of Lonmin. His actions directly contributed to the murder of thirty-four workers, betraying the movement he cut his political teeth in.

Widely seen as “captured” by the Guptas, an Indian business family, Zuma and his cronies have dismantled large sections of the state, including the national prosecutor and the tax revenue service, in order to keep themselves out of prison.