Happy days: Why Cyril Ramaphosa has never had it so good … and why it may be a mirage
President Cyril Ramaphosa has surely never had it as good as he’s had it now. Under the pump ever since his return to active politics in 2012, when he was elected as the ANC’s deputy president under Jacob Zuma, he has rarely had it his own way.
His attempts at reforming both party and state – in that order of importance – have been halting since he won the ANC’s presidency in December 2017. He’s had to navigate the treacherous dynamics of the ANC’s national leadership structures, while simultaneously attempting to reform a failing and corrupted state. And his government’s management of the pandemic has been poor.
But politically, all of a sudden, Ramaphosa has never had it so good as now. And that’s despite the ineffectual Covid-19 vaccination program, the third wave infections surge, a weakened economy and collapsing municipalities. This week the Constitutional Court neutered two of his biggest problems: Jacob Zuma and Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
In this week’s Friday Briefing, News24's Karyn Maughan writes about the CR17 campaign's win in court, Casac's Lawson Naidoo and Dan Mafora look at the Zuma judgment, while the Helen Suzman Foundation's Chelsea Ramsden explains why it's a good thing presidents don't appoint judges. I write about Ramaphosa’s position as it stands, and while acknowledging that he is certainly in a strong position, it might well be a mirage.
Best,
Pieter du Toit
Assistant Editor: In-depth news
Happy days: Why Ramaphosa has never had it so good…and why it may be a mirage
It’s been an exceedingly good week – a good three weeks! – for President Cyril Ramaphosa. His political enemies are on the back foot, and he’s taken significant decisions. But could it be a mirage, asks Pieter du Toit.
Mogoeng defends PP, as ConCourt says her 'weighty errors' can't be innocent
Days after the ConCourt delivered two very different rulings on the contempt imprisonment of Jacob Zuma, SA's highest court is divided on whether the Public Protector should have investigated President Cyril Ramaphosa's CR17 campaign, writes Karyn Maughan.
ConCourt Zuma judgment a 'courageous act' of judicial independence
The judgment underlies the importance of strong institutions in a constitutional democracy, writes the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution's (Casac) Lawson Naidoo and Dan Mafora.
The Zuma ruling shows we can be grateful presidents don't appoint judges
If Jacob Zuma was able to hire and fire judges at will, as he did with the heads of the National Prosecuting Authority, the Hawks, SARS and state-owned entities, it must be assumed that the judiciary would simply have ended up as yet another instrument at his personal disposal, writes Chelsea Ramsden.
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