After two days of testimony from President Cyril Ramaphosa before acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, there were a couple of sobering moments, like when Ramaphosa threatened to resign after Des van Rooyen was brought in as finance minister but more than that he had little more to offer.
Susan Booysen writes for the Daily Maverick that the president offered little in the way of substance as those tasked with asking questions at the commission tried to cajole Ramaphosa into some concrete answers.
“The scatterings of substance that were extracted showed a president who was arguably aloof, politically blindfolded and out of touch. There was a mere flickering of possibility that it was the sensitivity of the subject matter that was preventing more satisfactory presidential responses,” writes Booysen as we continue to struggle to come to grips with just how grand the scale of capture was during the nine wasted Zuma years.
It’s well worth the read here.
And while we’re on matters of state, how are we going to better our national security now that the state security agency has folded, and its operations moved into the control of the presidency.
Chairperson of the board at the Institute for Security Studies, Jakkie Cilliers writes in News24 what exactly the president can do to better state security. Cilliers argues that SA is in desperate need of better state security and intelligence and writes that there is money around to make this happen as long as there is good governance and management in place.
Read it here. [For subscribers]
In coronavirus news, Business Day writes in its editorial that the world was naïve to believe that 2021 would be an easier year following the horrific spread of the virus in 2020 and while strides have been made and vaccination campaigns are happening the world over, we may have to concede that “walking the tightrope is our new normal” as the newspaper puts it.
In other words, it doesn’t look like the coronavirus is going anywhere soon.
Read it here.
Here’s a roundup of the most interesting opinions and analyses:
Cele’s slip is showing again – Shirley de Villiers, Financial Mail
Godongwana is about to face his first big test – Khaya Sithole, Fin24 [For subscribers]
The JSE: Local is lekker, but how local is it really? – Cobus Cilliers, Business Day
Inept Stella is still on Cyril’s team – Toby Shapshak, Financial Mail [For subscribers]
Electing ethically compromised Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula as parliamentary Speaker is a dangerous conflation of governing party and state – Pierre de Vos, Daily Maverick
It’s about time for South Africa catches up with the wonders of technology – Richard Chemaly, The Citizen [For subscribers]
Shuffles, shocks and surprises – Paddy Harper, Mail & Guardian
