May Ramaphosa be his own man

The Jacob Zuma years have ended, but his legacy belongs entirely to the ANC — after all, the party placed this most unsuitable man in the Union Buildings; it was the vindictive nature of politics that allowed him entry to the presidential suite.

The ANC’S elective conference gave Cyril Ramaphosa a narrow victory, but the opposing faction in the ruling party provided him with “watch dogs” in the shape of Ace Magashule and David Mabuza, presumably in the hope that they will check his authority and remind him where the real power lies — though they are clouded in controversy and could face an inquiry into malfeasance.

Ramaphosa now tackles the “hard yards”. He must try to win the confidence of the business community and foreign investors and downsize his cabinet, ridding it of incompetents and possibly including experts of all colours to form a coalition of sorts.

He will urgently need to restructure state-owned enterprises and give the National Prosecuting Authority a free hand in investigating state capture.

He will make many enemies on the way.

Our recovery will take years to complete and it will not be without pain. The damage Zuma’s management wrought is immense and we may need help from the International Monetary Fund, for a start.

Many doubt whether Ramaphosa is up to the task, but he carries the country’s goodwill and we are hoping he will prove to be his own man.