LETTER: ANC lucky to have Democratic black caucus as guardian

Napoleon Bonaparte’s avowal that “in politics, stupidity is not a handicap” is appropriate when describing the current regime under President Cyril Ramaphosa and his deans, who are still pretending to run this country for the benefit of its citizens.

Selling weapons to the Russians is asinine, especially to an adversary to the US, which under the geriatric Joe Biden is trying to maintain a sense of normality in this prelude to a potential nuclear war. The ANC is fortunate that the black caucus of the Democratic Party in the US has intervened to save our country from the crippling sanctions the US state department wishes to impose.

One of the consequences of such sanctions would be personal ones against Ramaphosa and targeted ministers, who would all be regarded as international pariahs. The black voters that underpin the current White House do not want to see the destruction of the party of Mandela — in fact, that would be politically unacceptable to most Americans.

Finally, it is in Ramaphosa’s best interests to take the opportunity afforded by this support to correct course and stop any further export of weapons to any party involved in this war. James Freeman Clarke’s axiom applies: “The difference between a politician and a statesman is that a politician thinks about the next election while the statesman thinks about the next generation.”

John Catsicas
Senior partner, John Nicholas & Co

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