President Cyril Ramaphosa and his cabinet have once again displayed incompetence in the face of adversity. The president can no longer hide behind his predecessor Jacob Zuma to excuse the ANC’s failures in government.
Last week’s embarrassing U-turns on Eskom have symbolised Ramaphosa’s inability to make decisions and stick to them. On Thursday, Ramaphosa’s ministers displayed their limited understanding of the need for public engagement.
In an effort to give Eskom more breathing space, Finance Minister Enoch Godogwane withdrew an earlier decision for Eskom to be exempt from reporting on its irregular expenditure.
Because of limited public trust in the government and the minister’s hubris in communicating the message to the public, this decision faced backlash. Just two days later, Godogwane had to backtrack, leaving the government with egg on its face.
Just hours later on the same day, Ramaphosa’s newly appointed ministers had to stand in front of the media and withdraw another crucial decision that had been taken to boost electricity generation.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Thembi Nkadimeng, her deputy Parks Tau and Electricity Minister Kgosientso Ramokgopa terminated the National State Of Disaster On Electricity Supply Constraints.
This decision was one which had polarised many in the cabinet. Ramaphosa’s director generals who had been privy to the decision had previously told the Mail & Guardian that the electricity state of disaster would not stand scrutiny were it were to be subjected to court challenges.
Because of pressure and with apparently little legal consultation, a decision to gazette a state of disaster on electricity was made by the president.
One high ranking government leader told the M&G that the government withdrew the state of disaster after legal advice that its regulations would open it up to court losses that would humiliate Ramaphosa’s administration, which is still facing court challenges over its Covid-19 regulations.
The Thabo Bester prison escape is another example of the government’s incompetence.
GroundUp, which broke the Bester story, reported that on 11 June last year a prison warder at Mangaung Correctional Centre had emailed the deputy minister of correctional services, Phathekile Holomisa, about Bester’s escape on 3 May.
The minister in the presidency for state security, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, admitted during a media briefing that the government was embarrassed that it was caught napping over the escape by Bester, convicted for rape and murder.
The state has known for years about numerous allegations of human rights violations, employee abuse, corruption and tax evasion by G4S, the company running the Mangaung prison Bester escaped from.
The British multinational security company has also had lawsuits and fines amounting to more than R3.5 billion in 2018. Despite the global controversy, G4S continues to boast about its status as the world’s largest private security service provider, with a global workforce of nearly 800 000 people.
After being bought by American security firm Allied Universal in 2021, G4S earned nearly $20 billion. By the end of 2019, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Australia made up 7% of the company’s total revenue.
With these two events and Ramokgopa’s latest admission that the country will face another dark winter, it would be interesting to see if Ramaphosa’s cabinet is good enough to land the ANC back to its majority in 2024.
