LETTER: Ramaphosa’s jaunt to England betrays SA

South Africans, whether rich or poor, black or white, pro or anti monarchy, should be appalled and galled at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s pseudo statesman-like fickle flirtation with British royalty and the grandiose pomp and ceremony of his UK state visit.

He may have revelled personally in his moment in the company of the lords and ladies of the British nation and their ostentatious, extravagant hospitality (more often than not designed to impress those that crave and value the trappings of wealth and splendour).

However, his time would have been better spent attending to the condition of the powerless, waterless, homeless, jobless, crime-ridden, healthcare and education-deprived nation he is supposed to lead and represent. Not to mention his own and his cabinet’s incompetent, devious and corruption-prone performance during his presidency.

Even worse was the embarrassing, well-worn and clichéd demand from him for more financial handouts for his government, knowing only too well the historical looting, mismanagement and wasteful application of those funds that his government and party are internationally renowned for.

A former SA ambassador to the UK, Denis Worrall, was once cynically described by Jani Allan as “wearing silk shirts and gold cufflinks and sipping pink Champagne in the Court of St James”, but when Worrall recognised that he represented a corrupt, immoral and failing government that was unable to comply with its promises of reform and renewal, he resigned, and at great risk politically and financially returned to SA to take a stand against that government. That stand contributed immensely to the transition to democracy in our country and led to the formation of our current leading opposition political establishment, the DA.

It is time, if indeed he has any time left as president, for Ramaphosa to follow that example and come to terms with the realities of SA, reject his personal ambitions and fantasies and stop maintaining his wilfully blind ignorance of the wretched shambles he and his appointed cabinet are making of our country.

It is vaguely possible that he has the ability to turn things around, but he needs to be infused with a large dose of reality, courage, integrity and humility. His legacy and the wellbeing of our citizens depend on it.

David Gant
Kenilworth

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