Spare us five more years of Ramaphosa

WHILE the country is in crisis, President Cyril Ramaphosa is gallivanting with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace and going cap-in-hand asking for more “investment”, ostensibly to mitigate the impact of climate change.

Without a doubt, South African taxpayers will be financially burdened for many years as these loans will have to be repaid.

While the president is abroad, South Africans are left behind to contend with stage 4 load shedding, and nationwide union and taxi strikes.

Unemployment levels are at an all-time high of around 34%, the economy is on life support and those involved in corruption and state capture are still walking free.

To add insult to injury, the latest quarterly stats released yesterday showed almost all contact crimes, including murder, sexual offences and robbery increased by a combined average of 18.5%.

These are indeed South Africa’s darkest days and Nero is fiddling while Rome is burning.

Ramaphosa is far removed from the reality of the situation in this country. How different is this to Marie Antoinette at the time of the French Revolution, who said “Let them eat cake”, when told the peasants had no bread?

One cannot be more disappointed in the ANC and the government than now. Worse is that Ramaphosa has been touted as a contender for president of the governing party for another term.

His re-appointment would effectively mean another five years of the above conditions, which would plunge South Africa into further ruin.

One must be blind not to see the destruction Ramaphosa’s five wasted years has caused both his party and the country.

The ANC of our beloved Madiba is no more. Its formations like the ANC Youth league and ANC Women’s League have all but collapsed while the once vibrant tripartite alliance has disintegrated.

Can South Africa afford another five years of Ramaphosa, who has been a failure on every front?

Unless ANC delegates to the party’s election conference next month bring about a significant change in the party’s leadership, South Africans can expect another five years of misery. We can but hope that this will be avoided.