Cyril needs Madiba magic
As Barack Obama delivers the annual Nelson Mandela Lecture, Ramaphosa must take notes on what made Mandela the giant that he is.
Five months ago Cyril Ramaphosa was the best thing that has happened to South Africa in the last 10 years. He represented a total breakaway from the worst president the country’s ever had since the dawn of democracy. Yet right now it feels as though the tide has turned against him: in his short time at the helm the country has seen value added tax increased for the first time in 25 years, petrol prices have been on an upward trajectory, and to top it all, Ramaphosa hasn’t exactly gotten rid of those that enabled the looting frenzy that went on during his predecessor’s rule.
Because South Africans have short memories, they do not remember how dark it was before Ramaphosa took over.
Right now, the president could do with a huge dose of Madiba magic. Seeing that we are in the midst of the centenary celebrations of Nelson Mandela it is not far-fetched to ask that very hypothetical question: What would Mandela have done?
If Mandela were in the same situation as Ramaphosa would he have made any decisions differently? The answer is a simple one: Mandela was a man of principle. Wrong was wrong to him and he wouldn’t sugarcoat things to make people around him feel comfortable – something Ramaphosa sorely lacks.
Over the weekend he was quoted as saying that he will not compromise the unity of the ANC to be seen to be making the right decisions.
That is such a pity. The president has just told the country the same thing that his predecessor kept repeating on public platforms: the ruling party comes before the country.
He would rather keep the appearance of the unity that is holding the different factions of the tattered ruling party together than take bold decisions for the common good of all the citizens of this country.
That’s where Mandela’s principles come into play. In Mandela’s own words: “The time is always right to do right.”
Ramaphosa has dithered in doing the right things by South Africa because he believes “it is not the right time”, especially for the unity of his precious ruling party.
The truth is Cyril Ramaphosa is worried only about one thing: his continued tenure at the helm of the country should the ANC make it through the next general elections. This is the only explanation for his keeping all of Zuma’s acolytes within government – something Mandela’s principles would never allow him to do.
To be seen to be undoing Zuma’s damage the president has to get rid of the likes of Bathabile Dlamini and Malusi Gigaba from Cabinet. That would be leadership based on the principle that South Africa always comes first.
So as Barack Obama delivers the annual Nelson Mandela Lecture to its biggest audience ever, Ramaphosa must listen attentively. He must take notes on what made Mandela the giant that he is.
He will learn that Madiba magic was not really a myth: it was people responding in a positive way to a principle-based leadership of a man who was not only prepared to live out his principles, but because he believed in how right his principles were for his people and country.
He was prepared to die for them.