President Ramaphosa: should he stay or should he go?

Is it time for President Cyril Ramaphosa to step down and make way for a new leader to save the day or was this simply another day in South African politics?

The president recently came under fire following a mysterious robbery at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo that saw an undisclosed amount of money stolen.

The Citizen asked some ordinary South Africans for their views.

Kayla Singh said a president was supposed to be someone to look up to. “In our country, there aren’t many requirements to be president, apart from having come from the struggle in some way. Now Ramaphosa is a disappointment.

“South Africa is an extremely wealthy country in almost every aspect – from farming to technology. However, we will forever be poor due to mismanagement and abuse of power and pure lack of substantial knowledge,” she added.

“As a mother, I fear for my son’s future in this country. “We claim to be a land of equality, yet we are ruled by a party basing everything on race indirectly and directly – from my generation to future generations who do not come from the struggle,” she said.

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Janco Stewien said it was time for a new president.

“Citizens gave him the benefit of the doubt and hoped he would better lead the country. Now we read about all the money that has gone missing from his farm.

“No man, he is just as pathetic as his predecessors,” he added.

Stewien said there were not any good candidates he would consider to be the next president.

Edward Ngobeni said there was no one who could replace the president.

“All the parties’ presidents are useless and the ministers too. [Gauteng premier David] Makhura, [Minister of Transport Fikile] Mbalula, you name them, useless, useless, useless. I don’t know who to choose,” he said.

He said appointing Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was like bringing back former president Jacob Zuma. “There is no one we can trust. We are going down the drain. They are focusing on bringing in a R500 note, how does that help the people,” he added.

The South African Reserve Bank has denied it was issuing a R500 note and R10 coin.

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Daniel Boesman said the problem wasn’t the president but the system.

“Ramaphosa shouldn’t not go yet. He is okay,” he said. Boesman said the problem was the politicking. “Politics is a crime against humanity and it started in the apartheid era. It is nonsense,” he said.

Political analyst Piet Croucamp said it was not time for a new president yet.

“But it’s time for a new ruling party. If you look at the last local election, 45.9% voted for the ANC and the expectation is that that figure will lower more with the next election,” he said. Croucamp said replacing the president wasn’t the solution. “I’m not sure we want a new president. If Ramaphosa formed a new political party that revolved around him he will probably win the elections in South Africa,” he said. Croucamp said people might be angry at Ramaphosa for many things but he was the best we had at the moment. “He is the last good man standing. The ANC has no other candidate who can be our president. Not a single person there,” he said.