KENNETH MOENG MOKGATLHE
Cyril Ramaphosa was presented to the South Africans by his party, the ANC, as a messiah who would run a government based on heightened standards of ethos and morality. He was treated differently from how his party was viewed. The ANC has come to be accepted as corrupt, so it is highly improbable that Ramaphosa could be different from the party he is leading.
Ramaphosa had no plans on how he would resuscitate the country’s economy, deal with the land question, fight crime and corruption, and provide quality and obligatory education. He and his faction made noise about fighting the so-called “state capture”, a term which they only use to refer to their rival faction known as “RET” which was in government for almost 10 years. These two factions have been involved in a muddy battle over the control of state resources, not the ANC’s.
Ramaphosa is known to be using every available means to protect himself and his political capital. He was protected by his party, the ANC, from taking responsibility for his involvement in the killings of 34 exploited mineworkers who were killed for demanding a living wage which at the time amounted to R12, 000. They got killed, and politicians like Cyril Ramaphosa, Nathi Mthethwa, Susan Shabangu, and Jacob Zuma who was a president at the time got away with murder. Ramaphosa, who sent an email giving instructions for “concomitant actions” to be taken, has not faced the music for his direct involvement, instead, he was rewarded with a deputy president position, and later he became the president of this country.
He did not end there, he used courts to help seal bank statements which entailed the names of people and companies which helped him to buy votes during his presidential bid in his party in 2017. This is the man who claimed that he would fight the so-called “state capture” but he went out to auction himself to be bought by the highest bidder who obviously would get preferential treatment when it came to business opportunities from the government.
This is the man who claimed to have advocated for transparency and accountability but up until now, we have never seen him being transparent or accountable. He used every legal or political means to circumvent being held accountable.
Ramaphosa’s attitude towards fighting corruption or the so-called state capture has been characterised by factional tendency and divisive as he is shielding those who are in his own faction like Gwede Mantashe who is implicated in the Zondo Commission. Those who are not in his faction have been forced to adhere to the party’s step-aside policy while those who are in his own faction are enjoying “blue lights”.
The divisions of the ANC are tantamount and responsible to the division of the country. Today, we have more than half the population calling for Ramaphosa’s head over the farmgate scandal while the remaining are defending the crime committed by Ramaphosa. It is quite clear that those who are defending him are those who stand to materially benefit from him remaining the leader of both the country and the party, ANC. People like Mantashe, Ronald Lamola, Oscar Mabuyane, Stan Mathabatha, and a few others understand that not supporting Ramaphosa would translate to them being unemployed, that is what is important to them.
Our government, like many others around the world, is divided into three branches which are cabinet, legislature, and judiciary in order to keep checks and balances. As the leader of the cabinet, Ramaphosa and ministers as well as their deputies are supposed to be held accountable by the legislature. During Zuma’s tenure, the judiciary filled the legislature’s gap because the parliament did not do its job.
The parliament should not be intimidated from doing its job because it would be taken to court by those who do not want to be accountable to the taxpayer who pays for their blue lights. Taking the parliament to Constitutional Court shows that Ramaphosa does not want to be answerable to the very institution which elected him to be the president of the Republic of South Africa.
What Ramaphosa seems to be missing is the fact that the impeachment process which started the expert panel investigation is a political process, not legal. Taking the matter to court it does not stop the legislature from ousting Ramaphosa through impeachment with a simple majority. That is possible given the current atmosphere within the ANC where the other faction is “gatvol” with Ramaphosa and want him out before the conference.
While there won't be a secret ballot this week as the opposition attempt to remove Ramaphosa, there are more chances that Ramaphosa’s critics such as Supra Mahumapelo, Lindiwe Sisulu, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and many others who are hiding. They now have an opportunity to show where their loyalty lies, with the ANC or the country.
South Africa can be great, with ethical leadership.
Mokgatlhe is an independent writer and social commentator