Oh, for Ramaphosa’s silver tongue

Sona 2020 was perhaps the most anticipated State of the Nation address of the democratic era.

But in reality, Sona is of exaggerated importance. It is not a tradition with deep political traction in SA. Sona always has been more focused on preening about imaginary actions than taking responsibility for actual ones.

In the Jacob Zuma years it was a kind of sadomasochistic live-porn show laced with moments of pratfall comedy. A nation that was in the process of being royally screwed by its president and his unsavoury gang had – on this one night a year – its revenge, when Julius Malema and his costumed clowns bated and mocked him mercilessly.

During the Thabo Mbeki years, it was dull and dutiful, one of those rare occasions where the philosopher-king would deign to show his face in parliament. There he would annually expound with enchanting eloquence on the coming African Renaissance, while his listeners were evenly divided between those snorting with derision and those snoring with boredom.

Sona is about show, not substance.

This year, as every time before, the president spoke of the need for social partnerships and broad-based coalitions. This year, as every time before, the president mentioned the need for radical economic transformation.

That’s all well and good. Radical economic transformation – stripped of its Zuma-code meaning of an elitist kleptocracy camouflaged as a benefactor of the masses – is necessary to share more fairly the national wealth. And that can only be achieved peaceably in a society as divided and multi-faceted as South Africa through social compacts that bring together disparate groups willing to make genuine trade-offs.

But that is not what Ramaphosa intends. When Ramaphosa talks about partnerships, he is addressing his recalcitrant, ideologically hidebound allies in the tripartite alliance. These are the ones he is nudging towards accepting the “stark reality” of economic stagnation, growing unemployment and failing SOEs. This is the constituency he is pleading with to accept the “stabilisation and repurposing” of institutions.

It is a telling indication of Ramaphosa’s weakness within the ANC that even at the 11th hour, his approach remains one of high-wire caution at best, timidity at worst. There were no big moves in Sona 2020.

Admittedly, there was some faint hope. Unfettering power production outside of Eskom and using alternative energy are welcome moves, albeit that they have been solutions obvious for decades to everyone outside of government.

For the rest, it’s Sona’s usual thin gruel of roadmaps and commissions; of “far-reaching” master plans and “fundamental” overhauls.

For better or worse, we have put our fate in the hands of CR, one of the few good guys in the ANC gang. And despite years of presidential inertia, most of us continue fervidly to believe in him – a poll this week found Ramaphosa has among the highest presidential approval ratings in the world: an enviable 62%.

It’s either an act of extraordinary faith or ineffable stupidity. Perhaps it is Stockholm Syndrome, the psychological defence mechanism where counter-intuitively, those taken hostage bond with their tormentor/s.

The only thing that’s still not clear is CR’s role. Is he, as his fans aver, the hostage, the captive of malevolent groups in his own party? Or is he the canny hostage-taker of an entire nation, the silver-tongued baddie with whom SA has trustingly fallen in love?

William Saunderson-Meyer.

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