Ramaphosa presidency characterised by ‘SA polycrisis’

Does President Cyril Ramaphosa have the ability – or capacity – to lead South Africa out of the quagmire of crises it finds itself in? Perhaps not, because even if he did, the politics of his party would pull him back, according to an expert.

‘SA in polycrisis’

As Ramaphosa prepared for his fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona), the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) think-tank questioned his ability to lead SA.

CDE director Ann Bernstein, who described SA as being in “a polycrisis”, said although the country had enormous potential, it also had multiplying entangled and accelerating crises which significantly degraded its prospects.

It was vital to have a common diagnosis of why SA was in this situation and the Ramaphosa presidency was characterised by five “really bad ideas”.

It was government’s belief in a developmental state to drive economic growth and transform SA, but the state was corrupt and collapsing, cadre deployment was rife and it had failed to appreciate the power of markets, firms and entrepreneurs to fundamentally change the country.

NOW READ: Court orders ANC to surrender its cadre deployment records to DA

Commitment

A continued commitment to state monopoly companies to provide critical public services and the misguided belief that SA could be a high wage, high skill economy after failing to educate and train its workforce were other factors.

Political analyst Goodenough Mashego said South Africans had not elected Ramaphosa, the ANC had. When polling was done based on a leader’s ability to deliver, there was a certain margin of error.

“In SA, it is different because [the citizens] do not elect the president – he is elected by the National Assembly and the issue is Ramaphosa is here to drive what the ANC promised,” he said.

“If he is going to be judged [he will be judged on his] failure to deliver on what is in the ANC manifesto.” The ANC promised the creation of jobs, eradication of poverty, dealing with load shedding, ending corruption and fighting crime.

“Based on what was in the manifesto, he has failed, and based on what he commissioned himself, like [high-level] panel reviews, he has also failed,” he said.

“Same as corruption, like cases where there was a demand that the auditor-general be given the power to recommend prosecution of deviant officers [misusing] government funds, he has not implemented that. These are all things put before him and he has failed.”

“It is not only him failing but the ANC as well.” Bernstein said Ramaphosa also wanted other things which undermined his claimed priorities.

“The ANC and its president are stuck. They have failed to modernise their movement into a party of government or to build a leadership core infused with common values, urgency and the experience or expertise to govern effectively and deliver,” she said.

‘Ramaphosa knows what needs to be done’

Mashego said for government to function, capacity needed to be built at high level and although Ramaphosa knew who he wanted in his Cabinet, he also had to deal with the factions within the ANC.

“Ramaphosa knows what needs to be done but he also thinks like a politician in terms of insulating himself in the factions of the party and he did that at the expense of SA,” he said, adding the president’s ability to adapt was in doubt.

“He is unable to appoint the right people because he needs to allocate cadres to positions and also deal with factions by appointing politicians in government positions where they fail to work,” he said.

“He may have the capacity but he is pulled back by the politics of the party he is leading.”

NOW READ: Key moments in Ramaphosa’s presidency