Making moves in the right direction, one step at a time

● We all know that our new No 1 loves to walk, thanks to dozens of sweaty selfies posted on social media by thirsty Capetonians pounding the pavement with him. In fact, since he captured the state with his debut performance in parliament, President Cyril Ramaphosa has proved not only can he walk the walk, but that he can talk the talk. And, boy, did he push all the right buttons when he promised to compensate the families of 44 workers who died during clashes at Marikana in 2012. During his reply to the state of the nation address debate on Monday, Ramaphosa promised that the government would atone for the biggest blight on South Africa’s history post-apartheid. Ramaphosa reached out further with his personal promise as Lonmin director to play a role in the process.

The promise was a precursor to the judicial review of the controversial Mining Charter, which was scheduled for last week but seemingly through divine intervention was postponed at the eleventh hour by the Chamber of Mines and the Department of Mineral Resources. The returns on a new charter would be golden to the economy — about R700-million — but the real effects would be on the lives of the poor and that’s priceless.