Sending the right message
CYRIL RAMAPHOSA is in Davos this week, the little Swiss town that plays host every year to the international financial community and the globe’s political leaders.
He has a very tough job on his hands, effectively to persuade the world that South Africa’s sovereignty is no longer up for sale, but rather is in the process of bringing the kleptocrats to book.
The key part of that entire narrative is Eskom, the giant power utility which has been mismanaged almost into the ground. Its indebtedness is such that if the world banks were to lose faith in it (and the country’s ability) to repay the interests on the debt it owes, this could have catastrophic consequences for all of us.
Ramaphosa though has done much to allay these fears; chiefly in overseeing the government’s purge of the board of lackeys and incompetents appointed through patronage, replacing them with individuals who have proven track records in business and the energy sector.
His other triumph has been to create an environment where the state can start to function as it ought to, without fear of interference – or at worst direct political meddling. The great proof of this has been the awakening of the sleeping giant that has been the National Prosecuting Authority.
Within the space of a week, preservation orders were issued against Trillian and McKinsey to secure R1.6 billion in assets the NPA believes were accrued through state capture. Later in the week, a far more significant initiative was launched to bring the people who were behind the Estina Dairy Scheme in the Free State to book.
Although it is a tiny amount of money in comparison to the Eskom looting, it is deeply significant because it directly ties in one of the notorious Gupta brothers to the scheme, the family’s businesses and a sitting minister in Jacob Zuma’s cabinet – Mosebenzi Zwane. It also indirectly ties in Zuma’s son, Duduzane, and, ultimately, the current secretary-general of the ANC, Ace Magashule.
The implication is clear, the shift in power at the top has taken place; South Africa will be a very different place if these changes are allowed to continue – which will be precisely the message the international bankers will be wanting to hear.