ANALYSIS: Where is Paul Mashatile, and does the vanishing deputy act threaten his presidential ambitions?

The continued absence of Deputy President Paul Mashatile from South African public life is a mystery. This should be an important campaigning time for him. Yet there’s very little information to explain his absence.

Two weeks ago, the Sunday World newspaper published a story suggesting that Deputy President Paul Mashatile was ill. News24 followed that up a day later .

The day after that, Mashatile’s office released a statement saying he was recovering from minor surgery and that his office was still operating in his absence. No information was given about his condition or the reason for the surgery.

In democratic politics, there can be no substitute for the public appearance. There is a reason why so many of our politicians try to spend a lot of time speaking in public, whether it be public speeches, broadcast interviews or even on their own social media feeds.

As ANC leaders are spreading out in many parts of the country, you would expect the deputy leader of the party to be more visible than usual.

Instead, there is no public evidence of Mashatile doing any public campaigning at all.

Perhaps more worryingly, there is also no public evidence of any planned events which involve him.

While this situation could change, it appears that this election campaign might well go ahead with no involvement from him.

This is obviously important for his party. But it is far more important for his personal agenda.

The generally assumed presumption has been that Mashatile is ambitious and that he does want to take over from President Cyril Ramaphosa.

This electoral campaign could be the perfect opportunity for him to show his dedication to the ANC just 14 months before ANC delegates vote for the party’s top job .

Nothing would be easier than just criss-crossing the country as the party’s campaigner-in-chief. It would show those most likely to be voting delegates at the ANC’s conference that he is a contender for president.

It would also be a very good opportunity for him to meet ANC activists across the entire country, as part of building a national coalition, which would be a huge opportunity for a leader known to have a stronghold in just one province (Gauteng).

Mashatile could use the campaign to tell both ANC members and South Africans what he stands for. Every speaking engagement would be a chance to clearly explain his ideology and where he believes the country should go.