Kenneth Mokgatlhe
President Cyril Ramaphosa was able to turn the tables on the Marikana Massacre, where 34 mineworkers were brutally gunned down by members of the police force, alleged to have been influenced by the current ANC leader who was on the board of the Lonmin (mining company) at the time.
He was the country’s deputy president in the last five years of the so-called “nine wasted years”, and his own role is not adequately narrated. The only thing we know or hear from him is that he spoke out against corruption that was taking place at that time, but whom did he tell?
This was the second most powerful person who was in control of the government’s businesses, yet he failed to save all the state-owned enterprises, which are on their knees at the moment.
Ordinary, sound South Africans knew that Ramaphosa would not save the country. It was only members of the ANC who thought he would help to redeem the troubled party. Hence, he always reminds us that the unity of his party matters more than anything in his universe.
With the help of selected media houses, the judiciary and academics, Ramaphosa was able to be singled out and portrayed as biblical Moses, a saviour. Everyone was made to acknowledge that, indeed, the ANC was rotten to the core, but Ramaphosa had the strength to renew the rot.
Ramaphosa is a compromised president. He was compromised long before he could become the deputy president of the ANC. He was compromised and bought during his days as a union boss. He will never be able to lead a structural transformation yearned by poor black people in this country.
Ramaphosa is an absolute product of white monopoly capital, and he is bound to stand in favour of what brought him up until his demise. The same capital “invested” more than R1bn into his presidential bid in the ANC to oust the opponent faction. All those who contributed to Ramaphosa’s campaign were doing so for selfish purposes. It was never to save the country, as the current Chief Justice Raymond Zondo claims.
Ramaphosa has survived all previous corruption allegations. He always knows that he will get away with murder. Will he be able to survive the two serious allegations of corruption made against him last week?
Ramaphosa’s role cannot be ignored in a self-confessed corrupt company, Glencore. Two former Eskom executives, Brian Molefe and Matshela Koko, allege that Ramaphosa had been used by Glencore in its attempts to fleece the power utility out of millions of rands by supplying sub-standard coal to the Hendrina power station.
On the other hand, the former spy boss Arthur Fraser has opened a criminal case against Ramaphosa over an alleged multimillion-dollar-heist. Fraser alleges that Ramaphosa concealed a multimillion-dollar robbery from the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the South African Revenue Service (Sars).
The captains of the judiciary, business, media, and some within the academic circles will go out in defence of Ramaphosa, as usual, because he represents the powerful elite group that is in control of the country’s economy. Therefore, he will be cleared of any wrongdoing.
Ramaphosa should not be viewed as an individual. He represents the power as it is structured in this country. He is the beneficiary of this skewed economy. Therefore he does not stand a chance of fighting against a system that made him who he is.
Ramaphosa, again, will survive all these allegations made against him because he is the darling of the capital.