[imagesource: GCIS]

Being the South African president is a poisoned chalice.

That’s due, in large part, to the conduct of a certain Jacob Zuma, who created an honest leadership void so large you could drive one of those PRASA trains through it.

Yes, the diesel locomotives we bought for R600 million back in 2015, despite repeated warnings that they were too tall to be used in this country.

The saddest thing about a figure like R600 million is that it hardly catches one’s attention any longer, so used to corruption on the grandest of scales we have become.

I don’t know why a multibillionaire, who should be spending his late 60s admiring his buffalo and easing off the pedal, would want to be president, but Cyril Ramaphosa took on the role, and perhaps he’s now regretting it.

Leading in the midst of a pandemic is about as tough as it gets, and I’m sympathetic to that fact, but as the national lockdown rolls on, criticism of his leadership grows louder.

After another 8PM address last night, where he announced the closure of public schools, promised to fight corruption (heard this one before), and once again took zero questions from the media, News24’s Pieter du Toit offered his first take.

…as has become the wont of Ramaphosa and his government, he announced the decision [to close public schools] – which will have far-reaching consequences for millions of families, children’s academic development and the economy – without providing anything remotely approaching a coherent argument.

South Africans now understand – as they were forced to learn with previous unmotivated and unsupported regulations, decrees and announcements – it will be near impossible to get to the bottom of why whatever ministerial council or body or grouping took the decision they did.

That is because this government remains averse to any form of accountability.

Hey, why start now?

When was the last time our president took questions from journalists? Around the world, leaders face up to the media because they ask the questions that the citizens who elected them want answered.

Sure, some presidents only hold media briefings to boost their tiny little egos, but as things stand, we are still without answers regarding how some of the biggest decisions under lockdown have been made.

The Daily Maverick’s Richard Poplak never holds back, but he’s on the money here:

The problem with Ramaphosa’s addresses is that they sound like PR campaigns for the government’s good works — unchallenged needle drops celebrating the “decisions” his team has made on the behalf of 55 million people.

This shit is unacceptable. We need press conferences.

— Richard Poplak (@Poplak) July 23, 2020

Take some questions. Answer to the people who elected you. At least pretend to have a whiff of accountability.

Back to du Toit’s take:

 This government, like it has done with so many other decisions, does not want to engage with evidence in a dispassionate and scientific way.

On Thursday night, the word from some members of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19 was there was vehement disagreement with the president’s announcement. But experts, academics and scientists can be humoured and then ignored.

When those scientists do speak out, the consequences can be massive, as was the case with Dr Glenda Gray, whose name was dragged through the mud repeatedly after she spoke out against certain regulations.

Putting the decision to close schools aside, it was Ramaphosa’s promises to tackle corruption around COVID-19 funds that really wriggled under the skin of so many South Africans.

At this stage, we are all but numb to the fact that, at every opportunity, and no matter how many lives are at stake, public officials across the country will continue to pillage any and all resources for self-enrichment.

Yet, Ramaphosa had the gall to say “the success of our fight against corruption depends on the involvement of all citizens and all parts of society”.

I must have missed the part where we, the citizens, robbed ourselves blind. When he dropped that line, I almost punched the TV, and I wasn’t alone on that front:

“the fight against corruption involves all citizens” was it all citizens who ate the money? Don’t talk kak to me.

— lindy (@Lindyyay) July 23, 2020

Rooting out corruption does take buy-in from every sector of society, but it’s rich for the leader of the ANC to try and share responsibility around, when the party itself routinely turns a blind eye to members that are so brazen about their own crimes.

The R500 billion COVID-19 social and economic plan that Ramaphosa announced when lockdown was first implemented has been beset by allegations of corruption from day one, despite the fact that he said every cent would be accounted for, and no measures would be spared to root out those who engaged in criminal behaviour.

Ramaphosa can’t help the fact that there are crooks in almost every step of the chain from himself down, as become standard ANC practice, but under his leadership, we have yet to see heads roll.

More from his address last night, and the same old lines, from a separate News24 article:

Ramaphosa announced he had signed a proclamation authorising the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate Covid-19-related corruption.

The president added 36 cases related to Covid-19 corruption were being investigated and prosecuted…

He said the SIU would investigate any unlawful or improper conduct in the procurement of any goods, works and services during or related to the national state of disaster in any state institution…

He added he was determined there should be no theft, wastage and mismanagement of public funds, saying the consequences for those who break the law or bypass regulations would be severe.

In a statement that has wrung hollow for more years than we care to count, Ramaphosa added that our citizens “require nothing less than full accountability from those who have been elected and appointed to serve them”.

So, about that SIU and the big ‘ol crackdown:

If the media was allowed to interrogate this speech/hagiography, the most important question would be – What exactly is the SIU’s track record in eventually securing convictions?

But no, we are led through nocturnal monologues.#Ramaphosa

— Khaya Sithole (@CoruscaKhaya) July 23, 2020

As so many have pointed out, the SIU has been toothless for years. What will change now?

Perhaps this tweet best sums up how many feel:

They’ll steal the money set aside to find those who are stealing the money pic.twitter.com/ZcIwhmJGbq

— Sibongile Mafu (@sboshmafu) July 23, 2020

How many examples of gross corruption emerge daily at the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, also known as the Zondo Commission of Inquiry or Zondo Commission, and how many people have been criminally prosecuted?

Meanwhile, two ANC members implicated in the rampant looting of VBS Mutual Bank are welcomed back into party structures with open arms, Ace Magashule walks free, and our nurses are left fending for themselves at financially-mismanaged hospitals across the country.

Another tweet:

OK. Name five high ranking politician behind bars for corruption since Ramaphosa became President. Just five. Small ting.

— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) July 23, 2020

When Ramaphosa took over from Jacob Zuma, the nation rejoiced, quite literally, with dancing in the streets.

There was talk of the New Dawn, of Ramaphoria, and we bought into it because hell, after what came before, we all needed some hope.

So, when do we start to look at this current president and question what has really changed?

South Africans are the most resilient of people, but it’s just become so damn tiring.

[sources:news24&news24]