Ramaphosa not up to job

The historian Edward Gibbon, who penned The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, said one of the reasons for the fall was the lack of “civic virtue”. The Caesars pursued policies that went against the behaviour important for the success of the community. “History is, indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind,” Gibbon wrote.

SA is now facing the consequences of a gross lack of civility including the looting of VBS bank — by ANC bigwigs with perfect imperviousness, a — perjured minister in the cabinet and a public protector who is inept and compromised.

In commerce, a CEO and his executive team remain free after the worst fraudulent misrepresentation of financial statements since Enron. In the US, the chair and CEO of Enron were handcuffed and marched out of their office suites within a week of their misdeeds being uncovered.

SAs president is forced to resort to costly ’ commissions of inquiry to justify any action against his party’s acolytes and thinks that launching smoke-and-mirror talk shops will beef up the prospects of employment. President Cyril Ramaphosa is not up to the task. He is deeply flawed and damaged after all, he was the — deputy president in Jacob Zuma’s den of thieves.

This country needs a government of national unity, with the assistance of business, the unions and other stakeholders to forge out a new consensus that will bring SA back to “civic virtue”.

John Catsicas Via e-mail