Media, political and business commentators have greeted the grand coalition, or government of national unity (GNU) as the ANC calls it, with hope. Leftwing mainstream commentators are now reverting to their default ANC and Ramaphosa-centric positions after the last few years of pessimism and abandonment. Like the previous, original Ramaphoria (v1.0), they expect a lot from him and the GNU, his purported, exaggerated qualities advertised, his failures forgotten.
One typical example of Ramaphoria v2.0 is Daily Maverick 168's editor Heather Robertson last week. She fulsomely wrote of citizens' paradoxical initiatives in Johannesburg and Durban, where municipal and goverment services have collapsed due to ANC incompetence, corruption and mismanagement, to remedy government duties as optimism.
It's one thing to volunteer - back in the day I was a volunteer in my community including police forum to help rectify the near collapse of the local police station's management; we literally got involved with station policy - but another to actually take over government's duties.
While it's positive for those who're doing so out of desperation by the collapse of services, it's nothing to celebrate, as she does, but time for reflection on the reasons for the intervention and its sustainability.
The reason is the ANC-run state is failing and in numerous cases has already failed. It's deeply unjust that citizens - individuals and collectives - who're already paying taxes (SA is highly taxed and receives poor value for it) must now spend more resources - not tax necessarily deductible - to bail out institutions and incompetent and corrupt administrators who don't give a toss or they would have done something about the mess they created a long time ago.
As to its sustainability, such interventions are only viable in the short-term. Unless there's a structural change by responsible government providers, it will revert to the status quo during or after outside assistance is removed.
While the likes of Robertson's negativity has lifted somewhat, it's too early to tell - there are unresolved conflicts and distrust between the ANC and DA, cabinet hasn't begun working yet, and significantly, the ANC failed its first governance test with John Hlophe's JSC nomination.
In this renewed, naive optimism and Ramaphoria Robertson wrote, "There are some among us who hanker after the white power days of pre-1994 and believe that South Africa has fallen apart because of incompetent black leadership".
There is a very small percentage who do long for pre-1994, but if pressed, couldn't care less because their - the far-right's - standard of living hasn't declined at all since. Even FF+ is a centre-right party.
But to link the far-right's alleged desires with their "belief" that SA has fallen apart because of incompetent black leadership is disingenuous. SA has fallen apart because of that reason only. It's already proven. Leadership in this sense means government, not private citizens (of all races) who deployed their skills to their own pursuits.
Or are Ramaphorias already denying the reason for state failure, that as the ANC claims, it's everything else except their fault?
Ramaphorias rallying cry, as Robertson wrote, "If the GNU is serious about getting us back on track, the time for true anti-racist patriots to shine is now" is problematic. Racializing the issue is gratuitous and divisive. It's from the left's/ANC playbook that only anti and non-racists (by default, whites are deemed racist) deserve to be in government and part of SA's future.
So to this thinking, anyone deemed racist - mainly whites and right-wing whether or not they're contributing to society - are excluded. It's the type of exclusionary sentiment authoritarian movements worldwide use against opponents as the SACP/ANC alliance use against anyone they deem not part of the revolutionary movement.
Since racism is a conversation killer, no conservative white would dare contradict Ramaphorias and say how provocative, disparaging and negative - to nation-building and socially - that statement is. Now that ANC and Ramaphosa scepticism is over, race-baiting, politicking and denialism is back.
60% of voters, the majority black, decided - already did a while ago but anyway - the black, ANC government is incompetent and corrupt. The ANC's loss was not due to racism. (A majority of UK's voters decided the Tories were incompetent too. No ism was cited as a reason for their huge loss, except gross incompetence.) It took thirty years during which a black, ANC government was given chance after chance to make good on the promise of democracy and Constitution but failed miserably.
Income inequality now - 0.67 - is slightly higher than 1994 (0.66). Unemployment worse. Poverty no better. Before 1994 there was inequality between the races, now it's between the haves - mostly government-employed black middle class and power elite - and majority have-nots - mostly black and brown. Then state institutions functioned, even if to benefit mainly whites, now failed and failing. It's not yearning for the past or racism to say this but a fact that short-lived GNUphoria, like Ramaphoria 1.0, cannot rewrite.
SA has a window of opportunity to stabilise before remedying its serious defects, if ever. If there's to be genuine cooperation, and not the dictats that pass for the ANC's and leftwing's interpretation of it, then it needs to start with how we address each other and not the disguised or blatant accusation, eg unnecessary"anti-racist patriot" remark.
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