Cyril Ramaphosa’s indecisiveness typical

It is said that Cyril Ramaphosa was Nelson Mandela’s preferred candidate to be his deputy when he was elected first president of the democratic South Africa in 1994.

Ramaphosa, the ANC’s secretary-general at the time, was, however, beaten to the post by Thabo Mbeki, who was Mandela’s speech writer and right-hand man.

While he agreed to be Mandela’s choice to head the process of finalising the country’s constitution, Ramaphosa must have known by then that he would be able to get himself back into the driving seat to succeed Mandela in 1999 when he retired.

South Africa’s current president quit politics and went on to become a wealthy businessman. He had not become president at the time that he wanted t0 – a time when the ruling party was not a shadow of itself.

A reluctant Ramaphosa made his way back into politics in 2012, coming back into the deputy president position of the party and of the country two years later – 20 years after he had been outmanoeuvred by Mbeki.

The country now has a president who would have made for a very decisive head of state 20 years ago, but is a very indecisive one right now.

The lay of the land had changed drastically over the 20 years that he had been out building his business empire. Chances are that he himself must have realised by now that the position of president that he so desired back then is a poisoned chalice that allows very little room for manoeuvre.

His survival as party president lies in putting the interests of the party before those of the country.

The case in point is in his indecision over the very necessary firing of Health Minister Zweli Mkhize. The president has assumed the position that has been his trademark since assuming office for the first time three years ago: waiting for the process to run its course.

His fear is that if he fires media darling Mkhize – and allegedly a potential rival for the post of president – he risks handing over the sympathy card to the disgraced health minister. This is a sympathy card whose value cannot be underestimated in the world of ANC politics.

It is the card that Jacob Zuma rode on after being fired as deputy president. That card earned Zuma a nine year stint as this country’s number one citizen.

The president’s unwillingness to risk losing favour within his party, while gaining favour with the voting public, is an indictment on his ability to lead. If ever there was a time for a leader to throw caution to the wind, this would be the best time to do so for the president of South Africa.

The country’s economy is in tatters, thanks to the looting of the past decade, as well as the battering it has received from the unrelenting Covid-19 pandemic.

The country’s institutions are not faring any better: the public protector is on the ropes, the collector of revenue, Sars, is in a rebuilding phase and corruption is rampant. What’s the worst thing that could happen if the president became decisive and fired the health minister?

The answer is he could lose favour with his party and possibly lose a re-election battle against Mkhize, or someone else next year.

In other words, it is not the country’s or his party’s interests that he is putting first this time around, it is the interest of one Cyril Ramaphosa.

His 20 years out of politics have dulled his decisiveness.