President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government has done it again — proved that it is rudderless and working at cross-purposes. Even as trade, industry & competition minister Parks Tau and his officials were hard at work attempting to address the 30% tariffs imposed on SA exports to the US by the Trump administration, defence minister Angie Motshekga and the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) were cosying up to Iran.
On Thursday, deputy president Paul Mashatile told car manufacturers, which are set to be hard hit by the US tariffs, that the government would be sending a new delegation to the White House in the hope of securing a better trade deal. A week earlier, in a media briefing on SA’s attempts to address the hefty tariffs imposed by its second-largest trade partner, international relations & co-operation minister Ronald Lamola dismissed US concerns over the extent of SA’s ties to Iran as a “conspiracy theory”.
But on Tuesday Lamola’s dismissal was proved short-sighted and plain wrong when he had to issue a public rebuke to Gen Rudzani Maphwanya for overstepping his role and blundering onto political and diplomatic terrain during his visit to Tehran this week. Meeting Iran’s Maj-Gen Amir Hatami, he “conveyed greetings from SA’s president and defence minister, affirming that ‘the Republic of SA and the Islamic Republic of Iran have common goals’,” according to news reports.
Lamola and the presidency appeared taken aback by the report, saying international relations fell squarely into their terrain and not that of the SANDF. Motshekga also issued a vaguely worded statement through her spokesperson, Onicca Kwakwa, who said it was “unfortunate that political and policy statements” were made during the meeting between Maphwanya and Hatami.
There was no indication in the statement that the minister was unaware that the meeting was taking place at this sensitive time in SA’s relations with the US. If she was aware, why did she sanction it? It would be even more concerning if she was not aware of what Maphwanya was up to but this is highly unlikely — Motshekga herself held a telephone conversation with her Iranian counterpart less than a month ago.
According to the Iranian embassy in SA in a post on X Motshekga also appeared to weigh in on foreign policy terrain and step squarely on Lamola’s toes, reportedly telling Brig-Gen Amir Nasirzadeh that “Iran’s strength and resilience are an inspiration to all nations” and “we remember that Iran stood by us in difficult times — and now, in the face of threats, we must stand together in defence of the independence and security of our nations”.
As one political insider put it: “Our tender generals will sleepwalk us into military confrontations that [we] can’t even fathom with technologically advanced, nuclear states ... what national interest does this military alliance even serve? It is further evidence that the governing party is populated by dimwits and nihilists.”
At the heart of things is the leadership vacuum at the centre of the SA state, which is becoming untenable. Ramaphosa is adrift amid the severe challenges SA faces. To begin with, his appointment of Motshekga to the defence portfolio was completely out of step with the needs of the SANDF. SA’s military has been buckling for decades under the weight of budget cuts and mismanagement. Motshekga’s appointment was particularly inexplicable given that her predecessor, Thandi Modise, had begun making progress in turning things around, all of which has now fallen by the wayside.
It is becoming clear that all structures atop which Ramaphosa sits are in deep crisis, from the ANC national executive committee to the government of national unity and even the national dialogue. Ramaphosa has consistently bucked against critics of his leadership style. He said those looking for a “dictator” will not find it in him, as this is simply not his way.
SA — and many of the useless appointees to Ramaphosa’s cabinet — would benefit greatly if he viewed leadership as the sweet spot between dictatorship and feckless leadership coasting from one crisis to the next.
• Marrian is Business Day editor at large.
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