For Cyril Ramaphosa to really lead SA, he needs to employ pragmatic populism
Maiden speeches are tricky. They only come once. The one delivered in SA by newly elected president of the ANC Cyril Ramaphosa required extraordinary ingenuity. Ramaphosa had to knit together multiple dynamics into a coherent whole. He managed to do this, delivering a speech that largely resonated with the delegates. His maiden address to the party, at the end of its 54 national conference, was shaped by the context of a narrow victory following a fierce and highly polarised contest in a factionalised organisation. A necessary aspect of his leadership was therefore to unite the ANC for a new beginning in a way that didn’t rock the boat. Ramaphosa’s maiden speech showed he might indeed be the leader SA has been waiting for. Its power lay in its simplicity and ordinariness. Measured, but forthright, he touched on many policies that were approved by the conference. These included a raft of resolutions that tried to give meaning to the goal of achieving "radical socioeconomic transforma...
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