The President can't mask systemic frailties

It would be safe to venture that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s approval ratings have improved over the past month.

Regular television briefings to the nation (six so far after last night’s address) during the Covid-19 crisis have eased some of our collective angst.

While he has been great in keeping us informed (and hopeful that we will get through this) questions around the economy and how the R500 billion stimulus package will be implemented continue to linger, as has been pointed out before by others.

In this week’s edition of the Friday Briefing, analyst Mpumelelo Mkhabela lists five key aspects which he describes as "mutually reinforcing factors that Ramaphosa’s charming leadership is seemingly obscuring but not eradicating".

Politics and global affairs analyst Phumlani M. Majozi believes the stimulus package is too expensive and that it will hurt us in a few years from now. He reckons there are no solutions to the crisis, only trade-offs.

Meanwhile, forex expert Andrew Rissik asks if the President has the will to "finally start introducing policies that will see the stimulus bear fruit".

Be safe, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Best

Yunus Kemp

Opinions Editor