Will South Africa be next to see forced change of government?

What is happening around the world are scenes that I suppose you also do not wish to see play out in our beautiful country, yet I’m afraid President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government are not doing enough – if anything – to convince us the almost spontaneous change of guard will not occur.

In the UK last week, ministers resigned en masse to send Boris Johnson tumbling out of Number 10 Downing Street; at the weekend in Sri Lanka, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country and has since announced his intention to step down as throngs of people choking from high inflation and unemployment stormed his official residence; in Japan former prime minister Shinzo Abe was gunned down while giving a speech during his political campaigning; while in Sudan protests are ongoing demanding the end of the military junta rule.

The Boris exit is the more appealing for a forced change of government in South Africa but it seems unlikely as the ruling party has traditionally placed in Cabinet the yes-men of the man in the hot seat, thus ensuring his grip on power.

It is quite unthinkable for South Africans to take to the street like is happening in Sri Lanka, where videos circulating on social media show – in what is reminiscent of the Arab Spring – residents invading the presidential palace.

Some are seen frolicking in a magnificent, sparkling swimming pool, taking selfies in what seems to be his poster bed, and others distributing cash.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Sri Lanka prime minister’s house set on fire as president flees protesters

These scenes exposed the opulence of the ruling class in a country that faces its worst economic crisis in decades.

We have to be careful what is posted on social media, so I cannot vouch for particularly the one purporting to be in the presidential residence, showing people sharing stacks and stacks of cash – which rather reminded me of the alleged millions that were stolen at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm not so long ago.

An assassination like Abe’s is also highly improbable here. Since the assassination of apartheid architect Hendrik Verwoerd by Dimitri Tsafendas in parliament in 1966, South Africa has never seen such a brutal end to a head of state.

It has happened elsewhere, like in Haiti where young President Jovenel Moise was shot dead in his residence in 2021. The trial of those arrested is ongoing.

As for the running protests and demonstrations in Sudan, where a military junta is in power, and the people demand a return to civilian rule, is it a far-fetched possibility in our country?

ALSO READ: Some South Africans want Ramaphosa to follow Boris Johnson’s lead

On social media, the past few weeks have seen the circulation and threat of a national shutdown. Already some are saying it will die there on social media and will never materialise. Only time will tell.

Exactly a year ago, we saw scenes of unprecedented violence and looting in KwaZulu-Natal and some parts of Gauteng.

Well, the government did not see it coming, and to this day, despite being told “instigators” are behind the insurrection, we are yet to see them face the law.

With South Africa in the grip of economic slowdown, rampant unemployment, costly food and fuel, erratic power supply and high levels of crime, who would blame those who are sick and tired and do not care about the repercussions repeating the widespread looting?

God forbid.