For Cyril Ramaphosa, international image is a fairly big deal. The President made a ‘foreign investment drive’ one of his key missions after he came to power in 2018. However, if he has picked up a copy of the New York Times this week, the ANC leader will be far from fulfilled.
New York Times ‘unimpressed’ by Ramaphosa’s address
The acclaimed publication ran a feature on Ramaphosa’s address to the nation on Sunday night. During this ‘family meeting’, he explained to South Africans how he would go about preventing government corruption, to ensure no other ‘state captures’ can take place.
In a long-winded speech, Mr. Ramaphosa revealed very little about implicated individuals and incriminated entities. Instead, how vowed to strengthen key law enforcement institutions, and subject high-profile politicians to lifestyle audits, in order to monitor any fruitful expenditures.
Though the promises seem noble enough, it wasn’t really anything we hadn’t heard before. The address was criticised for being stale. William Gumede, a Public Management Professor at Wits University, branded the televised spectacle as ‘a joke’.
Cadre deployment inaction singled-out by New York Times critique
The New York Times were quick to pick this soundbite up. But they also made their own observations. Author John Eligon questioned why Ramaphosa was ‘delegating and deferring’ many of his own solutions. He also slammed Cyril for doing nothing about cadre deployment.
“Ramaphosa deferred much of the work to root out corruption to Parliament and other government entities. He did not say how he’d tackle some of the most controversial issues closest to home, like what to do about senior officials within his government who are accused of corruption.”
“SA’s President also failed to address a system used by the ANC to appoint public-sector leaders [cadre deployment], often leading to choices based on expedience rather than competence. The judicial commission found the practice unconstitutional.” | New York Times
Ramaphosa fails to convince critics with anti-corruption plans
Indeed, the subject of cadre deployment has been the sorest one of all for South Africa’s political opposition. The DA has launched a court bid to have this practice abolished. Shadow Minister Leon Schreiber also denounced Ramaphosa’s ‘unserious’ national address:
“If Ramaphosa was serious about ending state capture, he would have told the nation that the corrupt practise of ANC cadre deployment will come to an end ‘with immediate effect’. He did not, so now the DA will force him to abolish this evil practice through the courts.“ | Leon Schreiber
The @nytimes reports on the DA’s campaign to abolish cadre deployment. After presenting crucial evidence to the Zondo Commission, exposing cadre minutes and dragging the ANC to court, the ultimate victory over cadre corruption is closer than ever: https://t.co/lcN8yzW6BG pic.twitter.com/pv2TekJUgM
— Leon Schreiber (@Leon_Schreib) October 25, 2022
By Khamisi
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