Will Cyril Ramaphosa be able to bring about change in South Africa?

By Mahak Paliwal 

Cyril Ramaphosa succeeded Jacob Zuma as South Africa’s president following his resignation. Jacob Zuma’s departure and Cyril Ramaphosa’s appointment were officially announced by the African National Congress last week. Ramaphosa’s re-entry can be traced back to late 2012, wherein he re-joined politics as ANC’s deputy president. This position affirmed him with a status parallel to Jacob Zuma’s. Cyril Ramaphosa’s appointment as the head of nation served a dramatic dilemma for the people of South Africa where they woke up to a nation without Jacob Zuma after the passage of nine long years. Zuma’s departure was accompanied by the headlines of “Defiant in defeat” and “Going, Going, Gone“. His resignation from the office was critical for ensuring the stability and survival of ANC, which has been ruling the country since 1994.

With the repeated allegations of economic degradations and ample charges of graft against Jacob Zuma’s presidency, the party’s image has drastically been undermined. The official announcement pertaining to the decision of Jacob’s resignation was made after the ANC’s National Executive Committee meeting. While people did see Jacob Zuma’s resignation coming, they seemed unhappy with the ANC’s choice to fill South Africa’s highest office. Mr Zuma, after acknowledging the names of those who he had worked with, added the intense violence amidst the party as an integral reason for his resignation. “No life should be lost in my name and also the ANC should never be divided in my name. I have therefore come to the decision to resign as the president of the republic with immediate effect,” he said.

Appointment of Ramaphosa as the president of South Africa

Being the only candidate who got nominated, Ramaphosa was appointed without holding any sort of voting during the special sitting of parliament. Taking into account his extreme experience accompanied with his worthy wealth of knowledge which he has acquired through his professional career, Ramaphosa was welcomed as the new director of the African National Congress. While the supporters of Ramaphosa appeared in an exceptionally bright mood, the supporters of the defeated Zuma seemed dejected for obvious reasons.

Expectations from Cyril Ramaphosa’s reign

Cyril’s appointment stands in tandem with his promise to “continue to improve the lives of our people,” and “work very hard to try to not disappoint the people of South Africa.” Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to put an end to corruption in lieu of the accusations inflicted upon his predecessor. “Issues to do with corruption, issues about how we can straighten out our state-owned enterprises and how we deal with ‘state capture’ are issues that are on our radar screen,” said Ramaphosa. His statement pointed directly towards the influence of Zuma’s associates over the government institutions, ministers, and state-owned businesses. The opposition leader has promised cooperation if Ramaphosa “acts in the interests of the people of South Africa”. Maimane, the leader of the opposition, further added, “the country did not have a Jacob Zuma problem but … an ANC problem.”

Addressing the challenges ahead

Ramaphosa, who has been assured of president’s office until next year, faces the biggest challenge of gaining back the faith of civilians and investors in the government of the country and the ANC, in specific. Ramaphosa’s promise of formulating the economy-friendly policies and fighting corruption has already earned him a positive response from foreign investors all around the world. The stock market of South Africa witnessed a hike of 4% which is the highest gain the nation has ever come across in the past two years. Cyril Ramaphosa had, prior to his presidency, made claims about improving and implementing the rights of workers and ensuring them minimum wage and stable standards. Also, in the past, he has made claims about transforming the gender bias scenario by ‘diversifying’ South Africa’s economy. In fact, Ramaphosa has announced ‘ensured employment’ at the top of his priority list.

Ramaphosa’s presidency is also expected to take special care of the architects following the alleged relations between Gupta brothers and his predecessor. The mismanagement and unaccountability of state-owned enterprises such as Eskom also demand chief attention. In Zimbabwe, the prevalent seizing of land which has led to the wide-scale destruction of agriculture and cultivation in the nation along with prolonged crisis also accounts for increased policymaking and effective leadership in the country. Amidst all of the issues, the greatest task that stands in front of Ramaphosa is to earn his party a position in the next elections. This shall be done by attracting voters by ensuring them a competent and responsive future.

Restructuring the defeated nation

Ramaphosa has already strategised to eradicate corruption by promoting a sense of energy, renewal, and commitment to clean up corruption and accordingly, regaining the desire of the investors to invest in the country. He returned from Davos last month with wide promises of investment. Fulfilment of his commitment calls for the replacement of officials on a wide-level along with building strong integrity in the criminal justice system. Also, his ability to tackle the endangered government’s corruption-dotted history will play a major role in determining his reign. The looting practice, which worked plainly during Jacob’s regime by systematically aiming at the state-owned entities, has already resulted in the nation running out of cash. The new president has already raised a large amount of funding for Eskom and raised its accountability.

There is a growing concern over the prevailing large-scale rate of unemployment and the expected economic growth rate of 5.4%. The apex bank is expecting a growth rate of 1.4% and 1.6% for the years 2018 and 2019 respectively. This clearly highlights the need for higher policy decisions, which are stable enough to reach the landmark. Ramaphosa also needs to put in ample effort to ensure proper implementation of free tertiary education scheme taken up by Jacob Zuma during his presidency. With all the prevailing societal, political, and economic problems and promises made by Cyril’s reign, it will be interesting to see how far the fortune of citizens’ will turnaround.

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