LETTER: Reshuffle sidesteps government of national unity

Despite her appropriate caveats about incompetence and financial or other impropriety embedded in some, if not most, of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s new cabinet, Carol Paton strikes a rare optimistic note when she describes the reshuffle as a good one (“Ramaphosa builds the centre that has been so badly lacking”, August 9).

Certainly, the president has strengthened his personal party political protection bubble and it is unlikely to be so easily pricked now by his retractors, who are seemingly becoming more impotent by the day. That is a good thing.

However, SA’s future requires a great deal more than the consolidation of Ramaphosa’s command and influence over his bloated cabinet. He needs to rid himself of the ever-present nucleus of beneficiaries of his — it has to be said — and Jacob Zuma’s patronage, who remain on the stage and cling to the ANC’s archaic and failed policies, which Ramaphosa himself has difficulty in distancing himself from.

Ramaphosa’s reshuffle shows that he attributes no significance to the concept of a government of national unity  — so well conceived and created by former president Nelson Mandela at a time of similar national crisis — and irresponsibly and unwisely chooses to fortify his own personal party political status rather than the wellbeing of our citizens.

Paton concludes that the “political centre is at last taking shape”  but that centre will fold if it does not contain a broad spectrum of opposition parties, business, civil society  and community leaders, contributing to new policies and practices and deeply and directly involved in government. Ramaphosa’s new knee-jerk, face-saving cabal excludes all of these and therefore has no hope of reversing our nation’s declining fortunes.

David Gant, Kenilworth

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