When President Cyril Ramaphosa takes to the podium on Thursday in the tent in the parking lot that doubles up as the parliamentary chamber, he will inevitably be pressed to answer on Phala Phala and his justice minister’s coffee shop loan. If past performance is anything to go by, he’ll likely sidestep both.

Presidential question time in the house is presented as an accountability mechanism, but it tends to play out as a choreographed show. And when it comes to Phala Phala Ramaphosa has been helped by the prosecuting service’s decision not to prosecute anyone over the dollar-stuffed sofa cushions on the presidential game farm. Already the tax authorities and the SA Reserve Bank have deemed all to have been above board. Having invoked process — and now that the process is done — it’s a case of “nothing to see here” for the president...

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