By Prof Sipho Seepe
Johannesburg - ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa started the year 2022 riding the high horse of political morality. Delivering the party’s January 8 statement Ramaphosa called for a “frank assessment of how far [the party has] gone during the past year in meeting the core mandate defined by the 54th National Conference”.
True to form, the statement moved with haste to blame state capture and the Covid-19 pandemic for the parlous state of the economy arguing that “the pandemic struck as we were launching concerted efforts to rebuild the democratic state after years of state capture”.
The truth, however, is that the economy was already on its knees before the onset of the pandemic. Both state capture and the pandemic have become convenient alibis for the state’s incompetence.
Since taking over as president of both the ANC and the country, Ramaphosa has assiduously tried to present himself as a crusader against corruption.
Had Arthur Fraser kept his mouth shut, the image of Ramaphosa as an incorruptible crusader would have continued. That image has since been replaced with that of a master of obfuscation.
The Phala Phala scandal has not only brought disrepute to his office, and the ANC but also to the whole of the country. The saga has since hogged headlines of almost all major news outlets – be it television or print media.
“The Financial Times UK” (dated December 1) led with the story that “Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidency under threat after panel finds he abused position. South African leader faces pressure to step down over $500 000 stuffed inside sofa at his game farm”.
The story was also covered by the “New York Times” and “Washington Post”, both commenting on the Section 89 Independent Panel’s damning report. The international press was unflattering.
Closer to home, news outlets and commentators sang a different tune. Instead of being outraged, some have since shifted their gaze elsewhere.
For its part, “The Citizen” (dated December 2) led with a story that “Ramaphosa’s resignation would open the door for ‘the nastiest, most craven criminals’ – 'Are you ready for President David Mabuza?”
Since then, others have argued that the democratic process should be held hostage because Ramaphosa represents the better of the worst.
This is not only nonsensical but an insult to all the sacrifices that led to the attainment of South African democracy. The politics of fear have not worked in the past, they should not be carried into the present.
In calling for a frank assessment of how the current leadership has fared, Ramaphosa may have not anticipated that the most brutally honest assessment will come from within the ranks of his organisation and alliance partners.
Workers convening under the banner of Cosatu openly and rudely prevented him from addressing their May Day Rally. Ramaphosa had to run for cover ironically in a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (Casspir) that was notoriously used to quell socio-political unrest during the dark days of apartheid. Trappings of power have transmogrified a former unionist into the enemy of workers.
By the time Cosatu held its 14th elective congress in September, Ramaphosa had become persona-non-grata. His envoy to the congress, Gwede Mantashe, was given the same treatment. He was forced to leave the meeting tail between his legs. Gone was a colossus who could talk down to workers. Significantly, scores of affiliates supported the motion to dump the ANC in the 2024 national elections.
The most brutal assessment came from long-serving and senior members of the ANC such as Dr Zweli Mkhize, Dr Nkosazana Zuma, and Lindiwe Sisulu.
Nomvula Mokonyane, also a member of the NEC summed up the state of the ANC as follows: “Under our [NEC] leadership, led by [Ramaphosa], we’ve done the worst. We have no leagues.
“All the provinces that we disbanded we’ve not rebuilt. We just saved North West. The Free State is difficult. Western Cape will not work out. The Youth League has not met; we disbanded it. We disbanded the Women’s League.
“Just a week ago we disbanded even the Veteran’s League, a body of elders. Who are we? We have reached a point where we are scared of each other.” (Sunday Times, November 6).
An Afrobarometer survey found that Ramaphosa's approval ratings have plunged precipitously, even lower than that of former president Jacob Zuma.
One would have thought that the last local government elections should have been a wake-up call for the ruling party. Evidently, this has not dissuaded Ramaphosa’s drum majorettes in the ANC and the mainstream media.
On the government front, Ramaphosa has failed dismally. Business confidence has plummeted to levels last seen in the 1980s.
Investor conferences have proved to be nothing more than meaningless and fruitless public relations exercises.
Unemployment has rocketed to unsustainable levels. The promised smart cities and fast-moving trains were always a pipe dream.
Ramaphosa's fertile imaginations collapsed into an ignominious reality that he had to finally face. He couldn’t fix anything. The “Pretoria News” editorial, A president reduced to fixing potholes (September 5) is worth repeating in summing up Ramaphosa's administration.
“The sight of President Cyril Ramaphosa patching a pothole in Mpumalanga while his fellow ANC comrades watch in glee is very sad. By all accounts, it shows that the governing party’s leader, and his organisation, have normalised the abnormal …These desperate actions suggest that the ANC has internalised its service delivery failures.”
Despite his numerous protestations and assurance, Eskom has proved to be an albatross hanging around Ramaphosa’s neck.
According to Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) estimates, the cost to the economy because of load-shedding hovers around R560 billion.
Understandably, the sudden resignation of its Chief Group Executive Officer has been roundly welcomed. In welcoming the resignation of the Eskom Group CEO, André de Ruyter, the National Society of Black Engineers of South Africa (NSBE) spoke for many in its remarks that De Ruyter was out of his depth and did not have the credentials to lead Eskom out of load shedding.
In its estimation, the “cost of load shedding to the South African economy was a minimum R1.1 trillion between 2018 and 2022 YTD. The Eskom performance in 2022 was the worst ever in the history of the utility”.
In shielding Ramaphosa, the ANC MPs may pat themselves on the back. Unbeknown to them they have sounded a death knell to the ruling party.
The ANC should brace itself for brimstone of fire from the opposition as they take potshots in dismantling the brittle wall built around Phala Phala.
For now, Ramaphosa is making international headlines for the wrong reasons. “The Financial Times” (December 10) almost brands him as a new dictator with its headline: “Cyril Ramaphosa: the South African president clinging to power. A descent into [the] legal scandal is not the arc envisaged for a leader who won early glory battling apartheid”.
Sipho Seepe is an independent political analyst