LET’S NOT BE

Even if we forget Ramaphosa’s role under Zuma, Marikana and his son’s business dealings, and fall for a choreographed likability, we’re still confronted with two problems: unconvincing ideas and a rotten ANC

Given the political and economic mess SA finds itself in, and the Nazi-like menace posed by the EFF, veteran journalist Max du Preez can only say: “So now, we cling to Cyril.” That is exactly how most South Africans feel. Even the blind can see that our country is in deep trouble. We are trapped in a tormenting moment where the present and the future unite to haunt us.

In this dark hour Cyril Ramaphosa appears like a spark of hope to millions of frightened South Africans who wonder what will happen to their country. And so, people “cling to Cyril”.

Even Ramaphosa’s enemies cannot deny that the man has a likable persona. He speaks almost all SA languages fluently, and is good at projecting an image of integrity. The fact that he played a leading role in negotiating SA’S transition from apartheid to democracy evokes the Mandela magic.

Given all that, most South Africans are willing to forget Marikana. While people find the president’s-son phenomenon generally offensive, as embodied so odiously by Duduzane Zuma, those who “cling to Cyril” behave as if Andile Ramaphosa is different from Duduzane.

Duduzane received dirty money from the Guptas, and Andile has been paid stinky millions by Bosasa. But the people who crucify Zuma jnr turn a blind eye to Ramaphosa’s dodgy scion.

Maybe fathers should not be punished for the sins of their sons. But Ramaphosa is still a liar.

When the latest wave of serious load-shedding hit SA in February this year, he told us he was “shocked and angry”. This is the same man who was tasked with fixing Eskom by Jacob Zuma back in 2014. He knew the whole mess at Eskom, and so could not have been “shocked and angry”.

Since people are desperate to “cling to Cyril”, they willingly forget that Ramaphosa was