When Cyril Ramaphosa was first elected president by the National Assembly back in 2018 there was a collective sigh of relief from South Africans as the nine years under Jacob Zuma came to an end. Zuma’s time in office was underscored by scandal after scandal after scandal. We couldn’t keep up anymore. State Capture hollowed out the government and made the fat cats fatter and maligned the poor.
We would have taken just about anyone at that stage and with the election of Ramaphosa, there was genuine optimism that maybe we were turning the corner. Ramaphosa was Mandela’s preferred successor after all, and he had a strong reputation as an ethical and principled man with a good track record as a businessman after he originally left politics.
There was a bounce in the country as we basked in the radiant light reflecting from all the ‘Ramaphoria’ as that time immediately after Zuma’s resignation and Ramaphosa’s election became known. We loved our new president, and he could do no wrong.
But that’s all changed, we’re patient people but we can only hold out for so long until we want to see results and results is something the Ramaphosa administration is sorely lacking.
Yesterday, we wrote about Mpumelelo Mkhabela’s view that the Ramaphosa administration had run Passenger Rail Agency South Africa (Prasa) into the ground. Mkhabela highlighted Ramaphosa’s failures and key missteps in trying to fix the country’s railway system, only to inflict further damage.
Today we’ve had a look at Imraan Buccus’ piece on how Ramaphosa continues to fail the people by putting party over country. Buccus writes that the president has failed at ridding the country of corruption and removing cabinet ministers from government who aren’t up to the task of running an ethical government because he wants to appease the ANC for the sake of party unity.
We keep hearing about the Ramaphosa long game, a strategy that apparently relies upon Ramaphosa being patient and biding his time until he has a strong enough hand to remove the individuals who seek to enrich themselves over doing good work or those that are purely not up to the job.
But surely after three years as president, he’s waited long enough? And with the recent heavy electoral losses suffered by the ANC in the local government elections, Ramaphoria has worn off and if the party and Ramaphosa are to win back those supporters they are going to have to take action and show leadership.
Here’s a roundup of interesting opinions, analyses, and editorials:
Ralph Mathekga | KwaZulu-Natal ANC’s clinging to Zuma’s cause could have repercussions for Ramaphosa – News24 (Subscribe to read)
THEO NEETHLING: SA is not a failed state, but political risk is hotting up – Business Day
In conversation with Eskom’s André de Ruyter – Daily Maverick
Lack of NPA action encourages procurement from dubious suppliers already implicated in corruption – Daily Maverick
THERESE RAPHAEL: Boris, Brexit and the pandemic: breaking down the contagion – Business Day/Bloomberg
