Ramaphosa’s rule ‘has reversed all democratic gains’

THE country is burning under the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa, who recently apologised for the endless blackouts.

Parts of Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and other provinces are experiencing water shortages and a lack of service delivery, which have led to spiralling protests from angry citizens.

While that is a problem, the cost of living is now more expensive than before, a crisis that is contributing to poverty and crime levels.

When he took office in 2018, Ramaphosa urged South Africans to “thuma mina”, loosely translated as “send me”. However, the promises he made, including getting rid of corruption, are haunting him.

Political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said on the political front, the ANC was in the worst state it had ever been.

Seepe said recent polls indicated that the party would do far worse in the elections than was predicted.

He said the party was more divided and directionless.

“Ramaphosa was presented as a leader who would take the country to new heights of economic growth, reduce unemployment and to deal with corruption. Crime is rife. Load shedding has destroyed many businesses. Its effect on small and medium enterprises has been catastrophic.

“Ramaphosa’s administration has reversed all the gains of democracy. White arrogance and racist attacks have reached stratospheric levels,” Seepe said.

He said Ramaphosa’s predecessor Jacob Zuma’s administration performed better than his.

“Zuma’s administration turned the corner around the country’s genocidal policy on HIV/Aids. The country experienced the biggest infrastructure development. Load shedding was addressed,” Seepe said.

“Load shedding returned when Ramaphosa became president. Yes, there are missteps along the way, including what is referred to as State Capture. But the damage wrought by Ramaphosa’s administration is more than tenfold. Eskom has wasted almost trillions of rand since 2018. And there is no end in sight,” Seepe said.

The ANC lekgotla said the country’s energy crisis needed to be solved urgently.

Ramaphosa, last week, announced that it would be necessary to declare a national state of disaster because that would enable them to address the challenge that the nation was facing.

Ramaphosa said: “The lekgotla also said the president must co-ordinate all these processes that we need to embark upon to ensure that the energy crisis is properly addressed, like we did during Covid-19.”

Energy expert Chris Yelland, in an interview with a broadcaster, was asked if the move by the government to consider a state of disaster was risky. He said he believed it could only be positive if the government knew exactly what it planned to do with the emergency powers it would receive.

“We have seen in the past with Covid-19 then indeed it can be abused, and if this is to allow unfettered emergency procurement like emergency procurement of coal occurred in the past, allowing all kinds of irregularities as a result of bypassing due processes in procurement, then I think it can be a very dangerous move. But if it’s done on a limited basis for a limited time with a definite identified set of actions, I think it could be a useful instrument,” Yelland said.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula last week said the ANC planned to end load shedding by next year.