GARETH VAN ONSELEN: Why Malema and Lekota dominate Ramaphosa and Maimane
The former two lead, the latter two follow: here’s how and why
There are a thousand definitions of what leadership is but, whatever the details, you can be fairly sure of one thing: they all arrive at the conclusion that a leader leads. The two most important leaders in SA today, at least in terms of electoral support, are President Cyril Ramaphosa and DA leader Mmusi Maimane. But leaders they are not. They are best described as followers. And here is why. The two share much in common. First and foremost, they both tends towards compromise and process in determining direction. Ramaphosa is a majoritarian at heart and, to determine where he is going, he outsources decision-making to consensus-seeking mechanisms. As he has now done with almost every pressing issue he faces, establishing commissions and summits, committees and panels, he attempts to lead from behind. Once they have arrived at a view, and the majority has prevailed, he endorses that decision as the way forward. Maimane operates in much the same fashion. Without the largesse state c...
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