Publications
Since 1994, South Africa has had five presidents who have varied greatly in style and character, despite all belonging to the same political party. Richard Calland and Mabel Sithole in their book 'The Presidents, examine how the five compare. The book was published last year, ahead of the ANC elective conference, in which Cyril Ramaphosa did get his second term. In this excerpt, the writers consider Ramaphosa's game plan as a leader and where it hasn't worked.
Hence the popular, and understandable, refrain: that Ramaphosa is our best option. Sadly, this damns him with faint praise; it is merely that there is no one in the higher reaches of the ANC who is ready to lead. As it happened, August 2022 saw the arrests of Brian Molefe and Anoj Singh, two of the nine ‘state capturers’ that NPA head Shamila Batohi had promised would see a courtroom before the end of the year. The wheels of accountability are slowing turning and they would not be turning had Ramaphosa lost at Nasrec in December 2017. His victory then was essential if South Africa was to stand any chance of recovering. Imagine if he had lost. But that’s not a test of his presidential leadership. As City Press editor Mondli Makhanya put it with customary panache,
