Feet of clay and no end to death spiral

It was easy, back in the naïve days of 2018, to delineate the good guys from the bad in our ruling party. Then, as Cyril Ramaphosa took over government and brought the decade of Jacob Zuma’s state capture to an end (or so we thought), it looked as though Good had, indeed, triumphed over Evil.

Now, it appears the man many thought would lead us safely through the Valley of Corruption, had feet of clay.

Under Ramaphosa’s watch, the power system seems to have gone from bad to worse. Corruption continues unabated, even within the ranks of those loyal to Ramaphosa. Crime has got worse and our police minister even more clown-like. In the Cabinet of Ramaphosa, though, there is stiff competition for the clown title … with Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula – he of the wrecked railways and roads systems – a strong contender.

And, even as Ramaphosa spoke about dealing with corruption, he was pushed off his moral ivory tower with the Phala Phala saga. He handled the situation like a political rookie and still has not given the country any answers, never mind satisfactory ones.

Because of this, some of Ramaphosa’s political rivals have been emboldened in recent weeks, with more, and stronger, candidates emerging to challenge him at the crucial end-of-year ANC elective conference.

The “radical economic transformation” faction loyal to Zuma appear to believe they can force the issue and prevent Ramaphosa from getting a second term. That, though, may be wishful thinking because, more than anything else, the ANC power brokers love a winner and Ramaphosa still looks like one in party political terms. He also has strong machinery behind him.

However, some are starting to wonder what was unthinkable in 2018: even with Ramaphosa at the helm, will the ANC continue to put South Africa in a death spiral?