Thomas Johnson - The Blog

Opinion among media commentators is the ANC, DA with IFP have done South Africans proud with the coalition, GNU as the ANC call it. Credit where it's due but survival - SA's - if the wrong choice was made, focused minds. But rather than Ramaphosa being the architect of the coalition who suddenly shook off years of dithering and wreckage to become the ace negotiator he purportedly is, the decision was made for him/ANC when MK and EFF presented their expected tempestuous demands. Had they not, they'd be the ANC's partners and not DA. And that would be that. But even now, the future's uncertain. After all that's happened there's still this odd perception Ramaphosa is a good leader, an ethical person, a good "negotiator". Perhaps his many admirers have Stockholm Syndrome.  The negotiator bit is based on 30-year-old ancient history. The NP gave in to all(?) ANC's demands because they had no choice - the game was over and they conceded to prevent dan...

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 l...

Frequently Ramaphosa-centric commentators in the mainstream media, ie those who are or were once but deep down still are Ramaphorias, state as fact he's this great consensus-builder and negotiator. They state so based on three-decade-old negotiations that led to 1994's elections. But otherwise they're unable to name significant instances of consensus or negotiated outcomes that Ramaphosa as president of the country was primarily responsible for.  Not examples of internal ANC deliberations, though, because they always agree what's good for the ANC. But even then, Ramaphosa is not as influential with the party's decision-makers as made out. He had to retract the trade cabinet portfolio offered to the DA, didn't he. And kept mediocre and corrupt ministers and a bloated cabinet to satisfy ANC rent-seekers when the national consensus, even among ANC-friendly commentators, is that it's not in SA's interest. So where is his supposed skill in this? Ramaphoria st...