It’s a good job that Ramaphosa bided his time

To state that President Cyril Ramaphosa knew about the shenanigans of state capture and chose to remain mum and do nothing is a naive form of analysis, “Gupta heist was an inside job, but the insiders are about to get away with it” (May 20).

We all knew what was going on as it was widely reported in the media or whispered in relevant corridors, long before the famous e-mails blew it wide open. What could be done about it was another matter as the regime under the former president had captured institutions like the Hawks, the NPA and the police.

Let’s assume that Ramaphosa approached the media or even the public protector to register his outrage. If he had done that, he would not be sitting in Mahlamba Ndlopfu today. With the massive powers our revered constitution confers on our president, he might have been fired instantly, with the president citing irreconcilable differences.

Nobody, including our courts, would have been able to do anything about it and Luthuli House would have simply issued yet another cut-and-paste statement about presidential prerogative.

That is why I am mighty grateful that Ramaphosa sat tight and did not squeal when his former boss was on the rampage. By doing that he saved our country from further unimaginable harm.

Letepe Maisela, Sandton

Enough of the Ramaphoria

Last week’s Sunday Times was back to its post-Zuma normal. We were subjected to “Oh! Isn’t Cyril wonderful?” from all sides. The Uncle Tom Bruce column was a delight for the ANC. Super Cyril had vanquished the Supra Problem. That Supra is still chairman of North West must have been missed in his ANC briefing.

On the opposite page Barney Mthombothi repeated the rant that the EFF was not respecting the ANC. At least he stopped short of the New Dawn nonsense.

As if they were not obsequious enough, we were treated to “Soaring approval numbers as Ramaphoria grips citizens”. Who says so? A survey of 750 people with cellphones is not a good sample. If you phrase the questions correctly, you can come up with the result you want.

Ramaphosa’s approval is soaring because ANC members see he’s hellbent on fixing the ANC’s chance of five more years of decline.

Tom Morgan, Cape Town

Presidential pronunciation

Listening to our new presidential president answer questions in parliament was a pleasure! Cyril Ramaphosa speaks well and does not commit vowel-ence on the English language. There are TV and radio presenters who could improve their vowels by listening and learning from him. Jennifer Sterne, Mbombela

‘Patience’ is in ANC’s interests

Kaizer Nyatsumba’s article, “Patience is key as Ramaphosa plays by the rules before ousting the lazy or corrupt” (May 27) refers. I couldn’t disagree more. It is in the country’s interests for Ramaphosa to act as expeditiously as possible against the lazy and corrupt.

The only reason he is taking his time is because he is acting in the ANC’s interests; he is primarily concerned with keeping his “fragile coalition” within the ANC together, so his timeline is dictated by how long it takes to erode the power base of the individuals, both inside government and the ANC, against whom he intends to act. Graeme Long, Johannesburg

Willemse speaks for many

Ashwin Willemse’s comments and actions on SuperSport elicited a response divided along racial lines, which is easily understood if one looks at our history.

People of colour supported Willemse for his stance and saw him as their hero because they could identify with him.

South Africa has removed apartheid laws from the statutes but it could not remove the subtle and covert forms of racism that black people have had to endure all their lives, and still have to endure 24 years into our democracy.

Whites — with the exception of a small minority — who supported apartheid all their lives were forced to accept freedom very grudgingly, but it did not stop them from maintaining their racist attitude and behaviour towards people of colour.

Willemse, in a very well-planned manner, expressed in a few sentences what he has been subjected to both as a player and as a presenter.

Ellapen Rapiti, by e-mail

Race card is a trump card

Following the big Willemse walkout and the racial storm afterwards, here are a couple of facts to ponder.

His book is called Rugby Changed My Life but could have been called Colour Changed My Life. Arguably his biggest successes would be his Rugby World Cup gold medal in 2007 and being part of a R330-million BEE deal in 2010.

In 2003 he won player of year in South Africa. In 2007 he was a shadow of that player but was still picked for the World Cup. Was he a quota player in the squad? Take a white backline player of similar age called Brent Russell, not picked in 2007.

Overseas clubs don’t have to pick quota players, so a player’s value could surely be determined by how many seasons they sign you. Willemse signed up with Biarritz but did not come close to finishing his two-year contract. Russell played overseas for eight seasons.

Willemse’s second big “success’’ in life was being paid R61.4-million in 2010 in a shady BEE deal. Would he have pocketed R61.4-million if he was not coloured? Yet he flashes the race card when it suits him. Anton “Gatvol” Martin, Stamford Hill, Durban

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