Ramaphosa can still salvage his legacy

The appointment of Justice Raymond Zondo as chief justice is one of the few times that President Cyril Ramaphosa has given this country a glimpse of his true mettle.

His detractors thought they had made it impossible for him to appoint who he wants, even unfairly assassinating the characters of some of this country’s finest judges during the Judicial Service Commission’s interview process. But in the face of the total onslaught by his opponents against whatever decision he makes, he stuck to his guns and appointed Zondo.

It is this kind of decisiveness that he is going to need over the next couple of months. He will need the courage to do what is right even when it seems the consequences for doing so could be “catastrophic”, as his opponents like to threaten.

The president’s administration is faced with rebuilding state organs that have been destroyed and part of doing that will be ensuring that those who are found culpable of fomenting the unrest that led to the looting madness in July 2021, are brought to book.

Whatever decision the president or his appointees take in the run-up to the ruling party’s elective conference in December, will be seen as him getting rid of his potential opponents, which could be true.

What is important is that decisions that are good for SA’s rehabilitation, like the appointment of a chief justice who will lead the judiciary in the right manner, must be taken with the type of courage that the president has displayed.

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Those who looted the country blind are counting on the fear factor to stay out of jail: “The president saw what havoc was unleashed when the former president was sent to jail so he will not risk charging anyone for the political unrest that happened.”

It is sad that most of his term was literally eaten up by the Covid pandemic, but he had already demonstrated to the country that he chooses things to unfold unnaturally while he sits on the fence.

His anticorruption crusade was blown to pieces in the midst of the pandemic when even those closest to him were implicated.

Although he must have been relieved to see Zweli Mkhize’s back when he resigned, he must have known that the public lost a great deal of confidence in him, his government, Cabinet and ruling party because they looted funds during the time when citizens were at their most vulnerable.

As a result, he now only has just under two years to salvage whatever he can of his legacy.

And it is not the kind of isolated cases like Bathabile Dlamini being found guilty of perjury that are going to salvage the president’s legacy.

That case, although important to demonstrate that no one is above the law, is not big enough and for some it is easy to simply dismiss it, as they have done with Ace Magashule’s case: it’s the silencing of opponents that could hurt the president’s run for a second term.

The president needs the National Prosecuting Authority to be firing on all cylinders, going for all who stole from this country’s people in the past, as well as those did so right under his nose during the Covid pandemic.

It’s been asked a number of times why a billionaire Cyril would return to the murky world of politics and some have suggested it is to get even wealthier. He can still prove them wrong by setting the country right.