Bruce’s Cyril exposed as a man with no spine

Peter Bruce’s “Yes, the appointments stink, but it could have been worse” (June 23) requires comment. As self-excusing, grovelling and pathetic as his article was in trying to justify his support of President Cyril Ramaphosa, what is far more important is that the man who Bruce spent weeks trying to persuade us to support by voting ANC, has again been exposed as a man of cosy words but no spine.

Every political commentator has been exhorting immediate remedial action by Ramaphosa. Only Bruce has pleaded for patience and time.

Now the actual state of the nation is apparent — a toothless, wavering, indecisive president is being jerked around by former president Jacob Zuma’s puppeteer Ace Magashule, appointing who he likes to critical political positions — and Bruce says: “It could’ve been worse.” How? By having Zuma return?

Roy Fury, Hyde Park

He is our Jimmy Carter

I, and many others, agreed with Bruce: a vote for Ramaphosa would give him a strong mandate to make the necessary difficult decisions. These decisions included a stronger, leaner cabinet; drastic policy changes; and hard choices (retrenchment) to turn state-owned enterprises around. A strong mandate would also allow him to ensure pro-Ramaphosa executive and working committees of the ANC to eliminate corruption, to turn around provincial and local governments and to re-energise the National Prosecuting Authority, police and education.

On this premise, I suspect many voted for the ANC with a slight feeling of nausea. The DA is/was paralysed, and voting for the EFF would be like voting for Robert Mugabe or Nicolas Maduro. Alas, Bruce was sadly mistaken. I have stopped believing Ramaphosa’s “new dawn” messages (dreams) and have little doubt the ratings agencies will be pessimistic.

He is the weakest president to date, albeit one of the most decent and honest men in politics. He may become the Jimmy Carter of SA.

It is clear he is not, nor ever will be, his own master, because the main opposition is his own party. He can only hope to indirectly get rid of enemies like Zuma, Magashule, Busisiwe Mkhwebane & Co by having them charged for corruption or incompetence. Bruce, a fine analyst, has still not directly admitted in his column that he was wrong, but I cannot blame him because the internal politics of the ANC are a cesspit of intrigue.

Prof Kurt Sartorius, Wits University

Ace is not the card to play

Magashule, the powerful ANC secretarygeneral, is an Ace of Nothing, or an Ace of Confusion if we exclude his Free State maladministration and its venality. He is a party apparatchik. Although an economic illiterate, he is a bold political chess master.

Why does he delve into the issue of the Reserve Bank’s mandate?

What was the purpose of his utterances, which helped to degrade the rand? Did he not know that his soliloquy would sow confusion in financial markets?

What does Ace now say to Ramaphosa’s restatement of the constitutional mandate of the Bank? Could he not have waited to publicly clarify what it is the ANC national executive committee (NEC) may have meant?

The other problem the Ace of Confusion encourages is the consolidation of factionalism in the ANC. Just before the president’s address, he arrived in parliament not to dissuade his caucus from nominating discredited members such as Faith Muthambi, Bongani Bongo, Mosebenzi Zwane and Tina Joemat-Pettersson as committee chairs but to encourage the caucus to appoint these Zumaites who have been implicated in allegations of corruption and complicity in state capture!

Perhaps he knows that his ANC faction won’t quibble over his putsch and so he feels secure.

It does appear that Ace is determined to derail the Thuma Mina train. But Magashule is not operating in a vacuum. The Zuma remnants are still ensconced in the ANC’s NEC, parliament and branches. Ace still has an Ace of Confusion in his deck and enjoys the support of a divided ANC. Therein lies the rub.

Prof Themba Sono, Centurion

Proteas’ only chance

It seems the only way the Proteas can top a World Cup pool is if they participate in a round-robin tournament with Bafana, the Blitz Boks, Banyana and the SA Super Rugby teams.

Lionel Milstein, Fairmount Ext

Walls won’t stop migration

I was heartbroken to see images of dead migrants in the Rio Grande. Politicians have lost the moral compass and common sense because of their obsession to curb immigration. They forget that people are migrating to escape poverty, homophobic attacks, wars and political persecution.

The US should concentrate on the causes of migration rather than talk about building walls. This will not resolve the migration problem if there is still poverty and injustice in other countries.

Handsen Chikowore, London, UK

Keep Sunday Times independent

I sincerely hope that the recent takeover/sale of the Tiso Blackstar Group does not affect the editorial independence of the Sunday Times in the same way that Iqbal Survé did to Independent Newspapers — a misnomer if ever there was one.

Tony Ball, Durban

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