Asleep at the wheel — President Cyril Ramaphosa, a non-Energizer Bunny

The Beatles said it best: He's a real nowhere man Sitting in his nowhere land Making all his nowhere plans for nobody Doesn't have a point of view Knows not where he's going to… And then… He's as blind as he can be Just sees what he wants to see Nowhere man, can you see me at all Nowhere man don't worry Take your time, don't hurry Leave it all 'til somebody else Lends you a hand…

Please SA voters I beg you to vote for our democracy. Forget our differences in race, tribe, economic status, religion etc. Don't betray your democracy because this democracy is the only reason I am writing this comment. ANC has failed to guide SA and in the process has turned SA into a drug den, a crime haven, and a generally horrible country with many people becoming worse off. They must be removed from power before they destroy SA even more because they are working with international drug cartels to destroy our families and communities. ANC is not a bad party, they have Naledi Pandora, and Thabo Mbeki but Thabo Mbeki's ANC is no more. It died in Polokwane or before Polokwane. Please voters vote for other people like Julius, Mashaba, Zille, and others not because you hate ANC but because you love your children, and country. SA should sacrifice ANC on the altar of democracy and like Abraham being called by God to prove his faith, was instructed to sacrifice his son,but was then told to slaughter a goat instead or was it a sheep. Either way I pray that you as the voters divorce yourself from ANC. ANC does not own SA, if you keep ANC in power you are going to destroy SA and your children will not have a country to be born in or to grow up in. ANC are good people like you but they have bad intentions, they are not driven by bad intentions but they no longer have the hunger to provide superior leadership like Thabo Mbeki used to do before he was democratically removed

I had great hope when CR was appointed. However, there appears to be no one in the ANC who has the ability to fulfill the requirements of the task.

Regardless of what CR says, he remains the most popular politician in SA. Other leaders, like Malema, whom is very influential, can swing votes from young people, but Steenhuisen seems extremely weak, and people like Groenewald really a non-entity

Ramapromisa's total ineptitude pivots on a key fundamental; LEADERSHIP SKILLS, which he does not have and worse still, does not understand. LEADERSHIP 101 key attributes; appoint absolute best skilled and competent people to your top team; at boldly and decisively when confronted with the need to do so, even if not the "popular" thing to do. At all times DO THE RIGHT THING. Does he pass muster on these absolute key triggers; NO!!

Ramapromisa's total ineptitude pivots on a key fundamental; LEADERSHIP SKILLS, which he does not have and worse still, does not understand. LEADERSHIP 101 key attributes; appoint absolute best skilled and competent people to your top team; act boldly and decisively when confronted with the need to do so, even if not the "popular" thing to do. At all times DO THE RIGHT THING. Does he pass muster on these absolute key triggers; NO!!

Phala Phala is the albatross around his neck; a burden that takes half a man to bear. You are commenting on the productivity of the other half of the man, which is necessarily way below par.

What a circus! Does anybody care? Aslong as there is fruit to pluck, it will be plucked from the low hanging branches.

You can see on his face. He doesnt want this job. He thought it would be cool and a great achievement to become president but now he's there he doesnt like it and would rather be sitting in his mansion in DA run Cape Town and playing golf with those terrible white monopoly capitalists. I dont blame him. Who would want that job?

Could he be deliberately playing for time on all these fronts until after the election when he could put himself in a position to choose unlikely partners and really turn the country around? This could be part of the coalition package? Love him or hate him, have a sense that he understands how to break the logjam better than most and finally create a legacy. Ever the optimist I'm afraid.

I have a feeling that Cyril Ramophosa wants the ANC to lose the next elections, because he's not strong enough, or disloyal enough to his ANC comrades to reign them in, fire them, retire them, or get them prosecuted for all the corruption, and the absolute destruction of our beautiful South Africa. He'll rather get the voters to do the dirty work for him. On the other hand, the levels of comatose states, deep sleep, sleep walking, living in an alternative reality, hypnosis, zombie states, brain dead-ness, etc are exceedingly high. I suspect the only things that the ANC cadres are doing these days are sleep, eat, toilet visits, shop for more Gucci, get dressed and undressed, and during all these activities, they sleep-walk. Cognitive actions are completely invisible, just like them. Are the Ministers and Deputy Ministers all still alive, I wonder ? Not even a peep from them, except from Angie and Naledi, and on the rare occassions one or two others.

He is not going to rock any boat or pee off any faction before the election, smile, say nice things , kick the can down the road and worry ( or not worry) about the shitstorm when you see who you have to become allies with later.

Tragically, President Ramaphosa is out of his depth, as scared to make a decision as a rabbit staring into bright lights. He should do the honorable thing and step down. He is useless as a President and has led SA into the arms of all the enemies of the west - Russia, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah etc. As a result, SA will suffer economically, is likely to be booted out of Agoa and shunned by countries whose support we need. Meanwhile, at home, nothing is getting fixed - think Transnet, Eskom, our harbors, schools, water reticulation - the list goes on. Thanks to him SA is like a cork in a turbulent sea - directionless. Not only is his lack of leadership tragic - it will affect every SA citizen for years to come. Cry the once beloved country.

No Stephen Grootes, I beg to differ. He is not asleep at the wheel, he is snoring in the back seat, not even awakened by some really big bumps in the road.

NA

Ramaphosa could simply fire Peters and not fill the position..... in fact suspend or fire all those Ministers and MP's tainted by Zondo...... he can do it!

The wheel has come off long, long ago...

Squirrel has been incompetent from the first day he became the president. His main mandate is to ensure that every cadre has enough space at the feeding trough. United they loot, divided they fall!!

Wise words thank you. But if the ANC lose their majority, they will form a coalition with the EFF. This would be an alliance with the devil that would put the final nail in the coffin of RSA. Malema has already voiced his ambition to reclaim land ownership without compensation & nationalise banks. He does not begin to understand the fundamentals of sound economic policy despite calling his party EFF. The 20% who vote for him are equally uneducated. RSA should be the Singapore of Africa but instead, it is spiralling to the bottom of the barrel because of it's incompetent & corrupt leadership.

Maybe he’s just a tired old man? People clinging to power at all costs has cost many a country dearly. Haven’t we already paid too much for this pitiful show of a government?

Punctured wheel, he's applying his mind...

Comparing CR2017 and JZ783, the former is definitely more suave. But on important matters, SA is worse off under him: unemployment, crime, corruption, loadshedding are up; the economy, education, transport, accountability are down. JZ783 giggled, ducked, dived and stalingradded, but CR2017 simply lies or kicks the can down the road (appoints a commission or makes yet more promises). Strange to almost be missing JZ783.

Is an ANC president even allowed to make his own decisions? Isn't he just a puppet of the party?

Ok, he is an executive president and can execute decisions. But the real problem with "corruption" is that to be fair, someone should be dismissed when it is proved. Sure, suspend them when under investigation, but the principle of innocent till found guilty by law, should, always, be upheld. And for various reasons, the SAP and other para-police bodies are not up to the job of proving corruption because they were the first to be destroyed, back in Mandela's day. Remember the advice of the British police bodies which was ignored ? It went far beyond getting rid of military ranks in what is meant to be a civil police force. All the bits about the interaction between the courts, the government, the people and the police were also thrown out in favour of a slightly modified return to the apartheid police force. There was the State Capture inquiry, but it had no judicial powers, so its findings blow in the wind till the courts act, and the courts cannot act without good policing. President Ramaphosa should have put his efforts into reforming the police, but they are the hardest nut of all and he did not touch them. No police and ANC corruption thrives. That, in my analysis is the problem.

Asleep at the wheel? He has yet to even get into the bus let alone be asleep at the wheel. That bus is currently flying down a greased mine shaft with no driver. Hitting the bottom of the shaft is imminent and that is when the real fun and games will start.

Blah blah blah very tiresome ,repetitve, soft narrative Vote DA ..simple

It seems those who wanted to loot more prevented him from resigning

An election anthem for Cyril and the ANC (with deepest apologies to Jim Steinman and Air Supply): I know just how to whimper And you know I am so sly I know just where to find the answers And I know just how to lie I know just how to fake it And I know just how to scheme I know just when to about face the truth And then I know just when to dream And I know just where to clutch you And I know just what you lose I know when to push you under And I know when to cast you loose And I know the light is fading And I know Mzanzi's gonna die And I'm never gonna tell you everything I gotta tell you And I won’t even give it a try And I know the roads to riches (he he) And I know no amount of shame I know all the rules and then I know how to break 'em And I always know the name of the game But I don't know how to serve you And I'll never let you call And you don't know how I do it: Making bucks out of nothing at all Out of completely fokol!

South Africa has been hoping for an improvement in government for the past 15 years. Hope is not a strategy. It is not going to happen unless we have a new government. ANC has run its course. The people must now vote in a competent government & it will still take 15 years to fix.

Bring Trevor back from life outside politics - for president of ANC. If that (or somebody like him) splits the party, then so be it. As things stand the ANC seems to be in neutral gear because of the obstruction from within the party against reform. It will be better if we have a coalition of the somewhat sane part of ANC with the moon-shot opposition in government than (1) hobble along with paralyzed ANC + some minor party to cling to 50% or (2) crash over the cliff with ANC + EFF + zuma in government.

The lack of action by our President is mind boggling. It clearly indicates a lack of enthusiasm and/or inability to put matters right. No action post the Zondo commission report , an incompetence to correct the Escom debacle, no clearing out from his cabinet of ministers who have proved themselves useless. All we have noted is talk, talk and little no do !!! Shameful from a man who the country supported a few years back . Sorry Cyril ..time to go !!

I think the President's interests are no longer at home, but at his home. Lack of taking action surely doesn't cultivate seed of trust that his leadership can be trusted. In companies, code of conduct is a prime tool to ensure that law is upheld within the organisation and values are reiterated to reinstate culture of democratic governance, but failure to do so is tantamount to correction that order cannot be maintained. Those who are in the wrong, disciplined by the President, will indicate to the nation that he has the will and capabilities to lead this country, but failure to do so, only shows that our current President was never a leader but a mere manager who took orders from real leaders.

I don't watch the SONA anymore, its not good for my blood pressure, but what really struck me about the 2024 SONA is that Eskom weren't forced to the keep the lights on for it. Previous years, they've presumably burnt through billions in diesel, but this year, nothing. The level reduce briefly from 4 to 2 for an hour or two, there was even a promise of "no loadshedding over the weekend", any yet, within minutes of the end of SONA, stage 4 was back, and within hours, stage 6. Cyril has clearly given up, and is showing it.

Francoise le Roux, it's quite obvious that you don't actually have a clue about how bad the situation is regarding Ramaphosa's failings as a "President" because you chose to criticize what is actually a good article by SG. He described the situation perfectly. Please get your head out of the sand before you make an even bigger fool of yourself.

Our president has become useless and spineless. I will fight corruption in all its forms so sayeth the spineless one. Of course he will, so long as its not his ANC lackies and erstwhile commie buddies that needs fighting. Too many ANC in top positions have too much information that can sink the whole ship. Thus no action from Mr. Ramageddon.

I believe Ramaphosa is out of his depth and has in fact never had control of what is going on in govt. I doubt the anc has anyone competent enough on board to fix all the problems. Perhaps the state of affairs is so poor that any solution is now irretrievable.

Dear Stephen, you are probably the last person left in South Africa who actually takes anything from this government as a something serious. Also, probably the only one surprised about our MIA president inaction..

Ehrrrrm. Notthing...

To all who are vomiting so liberally on our president here, if have anything like an open mind and a sense of your democratic responsibility not only to criticize and practise your tomato throwing, but also to listen and reflect, read his latest newsletter and match his leadership qualities as it reflects in it with your current perception of him. And why not subscribing to it and receive it on a weekly basis. It is not much to do as a token of your sense of fairness, giving your object of hate a chance to speak for himself and not just sheep-march along the fashionable vilification of an internationally respected leader that affects your daily existence. To read his latest newsletter, Google "from the desk of the president" and open "From the desk of the President | The Presidency". To subscribe, go to the bottom of the page at the end of the newsletter (enter your email address and click on sign up).

Stephan we know your love for the man, you are truly disappointed. Leave it to us the voters we will appraise this guy and his pack

No! cr doesn’t APPEAR to be asleep at the wheel. He is asleep and useless (just like the rest of the anc) - finish and klaar!

He knows he is toast after the election... No chance that he could 'survive' losing the ANC the majority

Don't know whether the things described here will reach the ears/notice of those who still vote ANC, and even if they did, would make much difference. The mass of voters in SA (and even in the USA) doesn't respond to what rational voters are supposed to respond to, but have a 'tribal' loyal to their party. (But: what to make of the defection from the ANC to the EFF and to MK? Or do their voters experience them as purer manifestations of what the tribe 'really' is - the way the Herstigte Nasionale Party was supposed to be a return to the National Party before i was corrupted by the verligtes?) Which I suppose largely means, vote on the basis of identity. And then for those who don't vote for the ANC (whether for rational reasons, or for tribal ones), the majority of readers of DM, undoubtedly, things like those described here just confirm the correctness of their own political preferences. Undoubtedly there is a small group who are induced by news like this to finally abandon the ANC. I wonder who they are (what the ethnic and professional makeup of this group is, etc.) and via what routes their disenchantment contributes, slowly, with fits and starts, to bringing a post-ANC future closer. If at all - but I suppose it does. All of this is linked to the question how, why and to what extent good journalism contributes to better politics. And how politicians should turn all the exposés we thank to outlets like DM into anti-ANC (and hopefully anti-EFF and anti-MK) votes.

If only the ANC were as determined to bring corruption to an end like how they took Israel to the ICJ. Every single day we are reminded by amazing investigative journalism just how far off we are as a country to where we could have been had our country been run properly.

Driverless bus. I am amazed at how a political party sabotage its own country. I will keep on praying for our beautiful country

I think they are scared of the domino effect. When thieves fall out....

I have to smile at the impassioned plea for South Africans to vote the ANC out of power. What percentage of the electorate - bearing in mind that ANC support is predominantly in rural provinces and areas - will read that comment?

Appears?? There's that inane word again ??

A vision: If you look at him not as the president of a multi-party democracy with executive power but as the general secretary of a communist unity party, his action or inaction becomes completely understandable. As such, he only had to execute the decisions of the Party Central Committee. I think of Brezhnev and the last years of the Soviet Union. It took a Gorbachev who would shake up the party and the system with glasnost and perestroika and bring the long-awaited liberation to the occupied peoples of Eastern Europe and some Soviet republics. Unfortunately, the majority of the Russian people were not ready to take advantage of this opportunity at that time. The conditions in the Soviet Union back then and South Africa today are not exactly comparable, but I still see clear parallels. Quo vadis South Africa? Will you recognize when history offers you a (possibly last) chance?

Cyril in Wonderland.