As I listened to President Cyril Ramaphosa droning on and on during New Year’s Eve, it occurred to me that there was nothing particularly new in what he was saying. It was warmed-over porridge he was dishing up for us.
The New Year’s message is a special occasion, laying out the government’s plans and carried live by the broadcasters. What we heard, however, were platitudes.
That Ramaphosa is no nearer to being a passable orator didn’t help either. Maybe he should consider a spell at a voice clinic.
The speech was flat and he seemed almost depressed. Even as he told us “we will progress and we will succeed”, it seemed as though he needed convincing of his own. It hardly sounded like a call to action.
The problem may not be what he’s proposing. Ramaphosa gives too many speeches; each speech tends to sound suspiciously like the one before. And people are tired of listening to speeches. There have been long, tedious talkathons since he took over.
Speeches are no substitute for action. We’re gatvol of listening to stories. We want action. If anything, this should be the year of action. After all, action speaks louder than words. Credibility comes from deeds, not empty words. Good deeds.
The ANC meets in Kimberley on Saturday for its 108th birthday bash. It is yet another opportunity for the members to prance around and display their arrogance. Most, if not all, of the costs of the jamboree will probably be borne by the state. That means you and I will be paying.
The ANC in the Northern Cape had given bars and bottle stores the go-ahead to stay open for the duration of the conference, until dissuaded by the National Liquor Authority. But that’s par for the course. It tells you where the organisation is at.
It will be another huge talk shop, full of breast-beating and bravado. No remorse, no contrition at the awful state into which the party has plunged the country.
We will be assailed with stories of this resilient, glorious movement and its impeccable achievements. They live in a parallel universe, these people. And Ramaphosa will obviously speak; the highlight of the conference. Hopefully he’ll have things to say.
Hang on to your wallets, folks. Robbers are on the prowl
Never in their wildest dreams did the ANC founding fathers, when they met in Bloemfontein, imagine that they were in effect colluding in the creation of a criminal syndicate.
They must be spinning in their graves. The ANC exists for no other purpose than to loot the state. And when it is done with the state and its quangos, it thinks up rackets such as National Health Insurance and the expropriation of land without compensation to get its tentacles on the little private wealth that has survived its plunder and devastation.
Hang on to your wallets, folks. Robbers are on the prowl.
Referring to the US Republican party, Stuart Stevens, a party strategist, recently wrote: “A party without a governing theory, a higher purpose or a clear moral direction, is nothing more than a cartel, a syndicate that exists only to advance itself. There is no organised, coherent purpose other than the acquisition and maintenance of power.” He could have been referring to the ANC.
Ramaphosa is deluding himself if he still believes in the fiction that the party could still be a force for good in society, or be a vehicle for the betterment of the downtrodden. Its record of its 25 years in power is there for all to see, and it’s a dismal one.
The irony is that 25 years ago, when the ANC came to power with the saintly Nelson Mandela at the helm, the hope was that SA would lead a resurgence of a continent blighted by years of dictatorship and kleptocracy.
It was going to be the beacon on the hill. Instead, in no time, the country has descended into one of the most corrupt in Africa. SA is not at all out of place in the company of the likes of Mobutu Sese Seko, Robert Mugabe or Omar Bongo.
Ramaphosa is deluding himself if he still believes in the fiction that the ANC could still be a force for good in society, or be a vehicle for the betterment of the downtrodden
And yet there are young, courageous African leaders that Ramaphosa can and should emulate.
Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister since April 2018, did so much within a short space of time to improve the political situation in his country and to normalise relations with his neighbours that he was awarded the 2019 Nobel peace prize.
He didn’t pussyfoot around or worry about what his party may think about the decisions he took. He did what was right for his country. And he’s been recognised, at home and abroad.
Nearer home, in Angola, João Lourenço, who took over from Jose dos Santos as president in September 2017, didn’t take long to move against his predecessor’s family and their cronies.
Within two months in office, Lourenço removed Dos Santos’s daughter, Isabel, as head of state-owned oil giant Sonangol. This week, Isabel, reputed to be the richest woman in Africa, had her assets frozen. Dos Santos’s son is already on trial for embezzlement.
Interestingly, Lourenço was handpicked by Dos Santos as his successor; yet he has not flinched from acting against members of his predecessor’s immediate family.
Ramaphosa suffers no such handicap. Jacob Zuma did everything to stop his succession. He therefore owes Zuma nothing, and yet he decides to act cautiously or even sit on his hands.
Failure to act against suspected looters of state assets has demoralised those who saw Ramaphosa’s victory as a ray of hope and has emboldened his critics. Zuma’s cohorts are strutting around the country like peacocks with not a care in the world.
Time for talking is long past. This should be the year the rogues get their just deserts. Otherwise even the state itself will begin to lose its credibility.
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