RANJENI MUNUSAMY: Cyril Ramaphosa seems to be having the time of his life, pity about the rest of us
Despite crises, Ramaphosa is sitting pretty for next year’s polls, but SA is not having as fabulous a time
President Cyril Ramaphosa is having a terrific year.
It started with the ANC anniversary celebrations in East London in January, where he took charge of the party after his election as its leader in December.
He laid out his game plan, called for unity among the ANC faithful and made it clear that the country would be changing course.
There was no doubt he was “the coming man”.
A month later, Jacob Zuma’s power was decimated. After trying desperately to hold on to the presidency, he made a clumsy, undignified exit from office.
Ramaphosa became SA’s fifth president on February 15 and, a day later, he delivered his first state of the nation address. The country embraced its new president and his message of hope and renewal. Since then the sands have been shifting. Zuma was charged and is facing trial for corruption, the Guptas fled the country, Tom Moyane was suspended as the head of the SA Revenue Service (Sars) and faced disciplinary procedures, Shaun Abrahams left the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) after the Constitutional Court found his appointment as its head was unconstitutional, Godfrey Lebeya was appointed as the new head of the Hawks and Minister Pravin Gordhan undertook a major clean up campaign in state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The Zondo commission began piecing together the state capture project, while the Nugent commission has unravelled Moyane’s fiefdom at Sars. Ramaphosa, meanwhile, embarked on a massive investment drive to turn around the country’s economic prospects, hosted the Bric...
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