DREAM ON CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

One can superficially understand Melanie Verwoerd's optimistic assessment of South Africa's future under a Cyril Ramaphosa administration.  Verwoerd is clearly enamored with Ramaphosa's "charming, disarming [and] conciliatory" qualities - not a difficult observation when compared to his deadbeat comrades.  It is true when one digs into the ANC apple barrel of elites Ramaphosa is not one of the rotten apples.  This, however, does not necessarily mean, as Verwoerd believes, South Africa can correct its course under Rhamaphosa's  leadership.

There is another side to Ramaphosa that cannot be ignored, and which militates against giving him the keys to the kingdom.  

 For years  Ramaphosa refused to dust off  his moral compass.  His blind loyalty to the ANC collective was absolute. His silence following multiple instances of corruption and looting of state resources by ANC comrades was deafening. The fact that he did not speak out indicates symptoms of moral deficit disorder wrapped in a reservoir of political expediency and opportunism. 

In a perfect parliamentary system a ruling political party chooses its leader within a framework requiring focus on the long-term good of the country - this means a leader vested with statesmanship as opposed to being just a politician. As a prerequisite to statesmanship the qualities of integrity, responsibility accountability, conscience and character are essential. 

The enunciated qualities do not, however, matter in the ANC's paradigm for replacing Zuma in 2019.  The dynamic is simply a power struggle between competing factions.  All that matters is factional self-interest between those who support Ramaphosa, and those opposing him. 

Ramaphosa, the well-connected billionaire politician does not need the trappings of the state to enrich himself. He has already acquired his riches by being a major beneficiary of gratuitous empowerment deals. He is beholden to his party for his wealth, and refuses, in the name of party loyalty, to distance himself from Zuma and his political chicanery.  Instead he blindly supports and defends Zuma by dishing up rhetoric over reality, laced with side-stepping infuriating generalities.  His lack of political will and independence raises serious questions about his ability to govern effectively.  

To add to the mix there is paradoxical tension between Ramaphosa's intelligence and his judgment. Regrettably his intelligence does not always equate with good judgment.  One merely has to recall his deafening silence in the wake of Nenegate by allowing political expediency to cloud his judgment.  To put it bluntly:  Ramaphosa is not his own man - he has been consumed by years of ANC relentless collectivism, supplemented by  a generous helping of self-interest and political need.  

 Ramaphosa is not the ideal choice to lead the country. But, then again with Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as his leading opponent, Ramaphosa is clearly the prudent choice.  Ramaphosa will be nominated by his faction at the next ANC elective conference, but his nomination will be nothing more than an historical footnote of a failed nomination that was.  Zuma and his cabal will see to it.  

_______________
Note to Melanie Verwoerd:  My apologies for raining on your parade.

>
>
>
>
>
>
> 

>