The time for real leadership is now

An open letter to Cyril Ramaphosa:

It’s been said that nearly all men can withstand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.

Inherent in this truism is the impending test that awaits you.

Your ascendancy to the highest office of your organisation, despite the attendant controversies and conflicts, has to be the greatest honour. Consequent to that awaits your ascendancy to the highest office in the land.

History is not the burden of any one man or woman alone, yet it is a burden of the duty that you are now summoned to discharge with a dignity, determination and distinction that will be admired and recognised by its very execution, should it be executed well.

Every citizen of this country, irrespective of their hue, ethnicity, race or religion, has ingrained in them a shared history.

You, sir, played a vital role herein and we are grateful for that. Fate has invited your indulgence yet again — this time with incalculable urgency.

We are approaching another pivotal moment in our history and you will be just as pivotal as you carry not only the hopes and aspirations of many, but indeed the roadmap for the future of this country and those generations yet unborn.

There will be new threats positioning themselves in the name of power; new obstacles preventing growth; and emerging recalcitrant individuals only too ready to scavenge off the rest of us for their own selfish interests — all against the greater good.

The time for real leadership is now, as we strive to alleviate threats and create new opportunities for all our people.

As you prepare for your imminent leadership of a country that once basked in the glory of the whole world, the onerous task that awaits you cannot be underestimated or trivialised.

At a time when threats and challenges work in concert to impede progress, growth and development, and when the irresistible temptations of corruption rear their ugly heads, you are compelled — nay, you are instructed — to lead with extreme conscience devoid of any of the loyalty to organisational constructs that diminish true leadership.

If we fail to meet our leadership responsibilities, what kind of a world are we expected to pass on?

It’s been said that “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”.

Sir, your time is now.

Narendh Ganesh, Durban North

A toxic mix at the top

To me CR17 or NDZ were just different sides of the same coin.

In the end Ramaphosa came out on top. The markets and some people were excited about it all.

In the first place, the composition of the top six in itself does not inspire any confidence. We see people like Ace Magashule and David Mabuza, both with questionable ethical and integrity records. In that toxic mix we also see Gwede Mantashe. To me, he does not have a backbone.

Second, the national executive committee is infested with contaminated, incompetent comrades who still have to answer to allegations of pillaging the state coffers and being involved in the Gupta scandal.

Ramaphosa himself was not oblivious to what was happening in state-owned enterprises.

He sat there in his second-most powerful office and remained complicit in the debauchery and maleficence that were running riot.

He has shown signs of being a dithering leader when faced with difficult situations. Will he have the guts to rein in the runaway corruption that we have seen unfold before us? I doubt it.

LB Angoma, Kelvin

Gender not the issue here

With reference to ANC Women’s League president Bathabile Dlamini accusing the ANC of patriarchy: this conference was destined to fail the people of South Africa, taking into account that fewer than

5 000 ANC members voted for candidates in ANC structures on behalf of the approximately 26 million eligible voters in this country.

It seems this conference was “designed”

to favour the Zuma camp, which would ultimately protect and further state capture endeavours and looting of state coffers.

The fact that members of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s camp were chosen for the top six attests to this.

Being a woman does not exonerate Dr Dlamini-Zuma from wrongdoing. Let us not forget that Dlamini is the minister of social development who was responsible for the social grant payment crisis of 2017, calling comments from various sectors of society irresponsible and malicious, and trying her utmost to retain the services of Cash Paymaster Services in what was deemed an illegal tendering procedure.

Dlamini even tried her hand at national manipulation by saying people should forgive state capture like they did apartheid. I am more than willing to forgive state capture, but the ill-gotten gains, the billions of rands paid to those who were in the state capture camp and their family members should be paid back to the fiscus.

I do believe that there are many women in this country capable of leading South Africa, but we do not want to see anyone who is corrupt or even perceived to be corrupt as president.

That is why the conference chose Ramaphosa.

Laetitia Visagie, Pretoria

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