LETTER: Ramaphosa deserves some credit

Former president Thabo Mbeki has been highly critical of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s handling of the Phala Phala saga, but we cannot ignore that Ramaphosa’s presidency has been extremely challenging, starting with his inheritance of a hopelessly bankrupt country (“Mbeki lashes ANC and Mashatile over Phala Phala and Eskom”, March 30).

No other president has faced as many severe problems, which include concerted efforts to undermine of his leadership from within the ANC, the riots of July 2021, floods, and persistent efforts to discredit him.

The question is how his detractors would have handled the situation if faced with the same challenges. From Mbeki’s perspective, it is easy to understand the disappointment he feels knowing the sacrifices and lengths people went to fight for the freedom of this country. To watch that disintegrate can’t be easy.

Making it even more painful is that at the forefront of that disintegration are people who were never part of the struggle and therefore stand to lose nothing by collapsing our democracy. Still, ANC deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane should be commended for appealing to Mbeki to voice his concerns within the party structures, rather than publicly.

Cometh Dube-Makholwa
Midrand

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