When President Cyril Ramaphosa first addressed the nation in March about the Covid-19 pandemic and measures the country was taking to try to curb the spread of the virus, he was applauded for showing leadership. But three months later he has squandered that goodwill, and the pandemic is showing up the president’s weak political management of his executive.
When Ramaphosa ascended to the presidency after the ANC’s 2017 Nasrec conference, it was anticipated that because of the thin margin with which he won, political management would be difficult for him due to internal party politics. But this kind of neglect cannot be excused.
Ahead of the announcement of his new cabinet after the 2019 elections, Ramaphosa promised that those chosen to serve in his cabinet would have the necessary skills and would be held accountable and removed if it was found they were not performing as expected. However, we have seen precious little of this accountability, and this goes to the heart of Ramaphosa’s political leadership.
There have been two clear examples this week: his office’s failure to provide information on whether the promised three-month salary cuts for ministers, made in April, had been carried out, and the year-long delay of the signing of performance agreements with cabinet ministers. When Business Day asked last week whether the salary cuts had been enforced and donations made, it was revealed that it had been left to each minister.
The presidency said it had been decided that donations could be processed either through a direct deposit to the Solidarity Fund by individual executive members or through a deduction from their salaries by their respective departments. Fewer than half — 13 out of 28 — of the ministers responded to Business Day when asked if they had made the contributions. Of course, those who did respond confirmed they had made the payment, were in the process of doing so or planned to start this month. But this is not good enough.
Surely the president, as leader of the executive who made the announcement, should be able to account for whether ministers have adhered to his directive? The public, many of whom have either had to take salary cuts themselves because of the economic fallout of the pandemic or have even lost their jobs, have a right to know whether the government is making good on its promises.
What should merely have been an administrative implementation of a decision has now evolved into an issue of accountability, of which there seems to be none. To add fuel to the fire, it also came to light this week that Ramaphosa has still not implemented performance agreements, despite promising in his state of the nation address to sign these with cabinet ministers.
The department of planning, monitoring & evaluation said in a presentation to parliament last week that the matter was “deleted” from the annual performance plan because of budget reprioritisation due to Covid-19. But a few days later minister in the presidency Jackson Mthembu was quick to backtrack on this, saying Ramaphosa was still committed to signing performance agreements despite not having met the deadline he set.
He said all government departments had to “craft revised annual performance plans ” in view of the adjusted budget presented by finance minister Tito Mboweni recently. Mthembu also promised that the agreements would be signed in the coming week, but whether this will be done or whether there will be another excuse for further delays remains to be seen. The fact of the matter is that it was promised, and it has not yet been done.
Using Covid-19 as an excuse is merely a cop-out. If anything, the pandemic has shown us that performance agreements are a real necessity and exposed the real weaknesses in Ramaphosa’s cabinet. Many ministers have shown that they are just not up to the job. While there has been speculation that a cabinet reshuffle is on the cards — clearly there is a need for one — it could be argued that it wouldn’t be wise to do so during a national crisis in which there is so much uncertainty. The pandemic has therefore probably saved a few jobs.
But this is not a good thing. If anything, some cabinet ministers have made managing the pandemic more difficult with their poor communication on lockdown regulations and the government’s strategy. Ramaphosa, along with health minister Zweli Mkhize, should have taken the lead on this front instead of leaving it to all and sundry to communicate as they deemed fit, and if not this, at least have reined in some of these errant ministers.
SA and the world are in crisis, and what is needed in such complex and uncertain times is bold, decisive leadership. That includes political leadership. Having to make excuses for why performance agreements are not signed, and seeing ministers scurrying for answers on whether a good-faith commitment has been followed through does not fill South Africans with confidence that someone is in charge. On the contrary, it makes them wonder: what’s happening in the presidency?
• Quintal is political editor.
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