Political heroes have feet of clay

South Africans can, at times, remind you of the sentiment in the Bonnie Tyler song… we keep holding out for a hero. One who never turns up.

We desperately wanted Cyril Ramaphosa to be the one to lead us out of the valley of despair and depravity into which Jacob Zuma and his looting cronies led us. As time goes on and Ramaphosa’s “new dawn” seems more illusion than reality, though, we wonder…

Then there was the dashing doctor who came as a knight in shining armour to protect us from the coronavirus.

Dr Zweli Mhkize may have been the minister of health but his take-charge attitude, energy and confidence made him look every centimetre a president-in-waiting. We swooned at the wholly unexpected vision of a politician who could actually do his job.

And – look at us now. We shouldn’t be disappointed.

We shouldn’t be surprised. After all, the ANC has left us at the political altar so many times before.

Mkhize is up to his eyeballs in the shameful R150-million Digital Vibes snatch of taxpayers’ money.

It is bad enough that a politician can steal from the people who put him in office, but far worse when a medical doctor can so flout the tenets of the Hippocratic Oath (prominent of these: do no harm) that his conduct threatens the lives of people.

Let’s not kid ourselves: that’s what happened here. A proper communication programme would have lessened the chances of infections and deaths, and would have helped prevent the anti-vaxxers from taking charge of the health narrative and slowing the vaccine rollout we need to get back to normal.

Yet, according to Ramaphosa, Mhkize must somehow be excused, because he did such a good job managing the Covid emergency.

The ghosts of those who died would beg to differ, Mr President…