Cyril must get a grip on ministers

The next time President Cyril Ramaphosa stands up to speak, don’t believe a word until Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, his erstwhile rival for party leadership, has publicly vouched for it.

Without her approval his pronouncements apparently mean diddly-squat.

She’s not the metaphorical power behind the throne — she wields the power in plain sight and with some relish.

Announcing the easing of the lockdown the week before last, Ramaphosa said the ban on the sale of tobacco products would be lifted.

Last week Dlamini-Zuma said that wasn’t going to happen.

Her decision was as audacious as it was unprecedented.

Never before has a president been so publicly humiliated by one of his ministers.

The president’s word, once publicly articulated, should be final.

This debacle has left Ramaphosa with egg on his face and his authority dented.

Ramaphosa has gained praise for the swift, decisive way he has handled the Covid19 outbreak, and his star seems to be on the rise.

It is not yet clear whether Dlamini-Zuma’s move is a reflection of genuine policy differences or an attempt by his party foes to bring him down a notch.

Cigarette smugglers — known to have bankrolled certain ANC individuals — stand to make a killing from the illicit sale of tobacco products.

Dlamini-Zuma’s supporters have indicated the decision to reverse Ramaphosa’s announcement was not hers alone, and that she was speaking for the government.

But it is not about cigarettes or taking up cudgels on behalf of smokers.

It could have involved any issue.

At stake is the authority of the president.

Ramaphosa has made speeches that have endeared him to the public, but he’s left the finer details to his ministers.

It seems either he’s lost his grip on them or left them leeway to pursue personal agendas. Friday was a case in point. The lockdown was supposed to be eased, yet this level 4 seems no different, if not more stringent, than the previous level 5.

A curfew has been thrown in for good measure.

The law on jogging, for instance, seems to have been crafted by people who are either drunk with power or have taken leave of their senses.

The fact it’s still dark in winter at 6am, and running at that time could be dangerous, seems to cut no ice.

The national command council has mercifully given us permission to go about our normal business.

But we dare not be seen running or jogging outside the prescribed period.

You can do whatever you like, but just don’t run. It’s stunning in its stupidity.

How Ramaphosa handles this pandemic and the toll could make or break his presidency.

Since taking over from Jacob Zuma two years ago, Ramaphosa’s tenure has been less than stellar.

He’s appeared tentative and reluctant to take obvious but courageous steps necessary to change the country for the better.

The recent downgrades by ratings agencies may have been an indictment of the Zuma legacy, but they also indicate general dissatisfaction with Ramaphosa’s performance.

The Covid-19 outbreak seems to have liberated him from the suffocating embrace of the likes of Ace Magashule at Luthuli House.

It has galvanised him. Working through the cabinet, which he controls, and not the party, have been a boon for him.

He’s been articulate and decisive.

When communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams got out of line he called her in, gave her a thorough talking-to and suspended her immediately.

And the public has generally rallied behind him.

But South Africans are worried, even scared.

They see the death and destruction the virus is inflicting in more developed, wealthier countries and wonder what will happen when its full impact is finally felt here.

They want to be assured the government knows what it’s doing.

They want to trust it, which is why they are prepared to go along with restrictions and sacrifices.

They’ve been confined at home for weeks now and many businesses are likely to go belly-up with the loss of thousands of jobs.

Even the deployment of thousands of troops, which would normally have caused an outcry, has passed with hardly a whimper.

But something seemed to flip last week.

There’s a feeling that people’s tolerance is being taken for granted, even abused.

Some in the cabinet see this as an opportunity to achieve ends that would be out of reach under normal circumstances.

SA is a democracy, not a totalitarian state.

Even in such extraordinary circumstances, people’s feelings or views have to be respected, no matter how trivial they might appear.

Decisions that are arbitrary or bereft of logic or reason must be avoided.

Ramaphosa needs to get a grip on his ministers.

He should not allow any of them to be the tail that wags the dog.