LETTER: Ramaphosa exposed in his naiveté

President Cyril Ramaphosa has been accused of prevarication and weakness, while his supporters have pleaded for his long view and cited the good appointments he has made to key institutions.

Until now many have had some sympathy for Ramaphosa, but his latest performance must have changed all that as he has been exposed in his naiveté.

While the whole country, from mining magnate to street trader, knows the board and management of Eskom are inept, and that the enterprise from top to bottom is stifled by corruption and the incompetent liars who still occupy it, the state’s most senior leader came out of a meeting with these suited impostors not only taking what they said at face value but repeating it as his personal assurance that there would be no load-shedding over the holidays.

That misstep, together with his hasty “shocked” return  from Egypt and the sickening optics of his beaming smiles at the annual ANC exercise in deluded self-congratulation, not only blots Ramaphosa’s reputation as president but makes you wonder how smart he actually is, and how well earned is his reputation as a shrewd businessman. Talk about a ship in a storm with no skipper.

Sydney Kaye
Cape Town

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