President Cyril Ramaphosa has a lot to answer for in the latest revelations about his personal dealings and decisions he has taken in the exercise of his power.
The matter surrounding Arthur Fraser’s revelations that he has admitted to and the suspension of the public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane are issues that are too important to ignore.
But we have a problem already on how the public debate is going. Because Ramaphosa is running for a second term in the ANC and is also perceived to be leading the campaign to fight corruption, all allegations and critiques brought forward against his leadership are shelved as mere attacks to prevent him from fulfilling these tasks.
That is too simplistic and I don’t want to be part of a mob that pretends to be a critical voice of reason. We should not think like that. We are much better than that.
Ramaphosa’s running for a second term and his state capture campaign shouldn’t stop us from thinking for ourselves and hold him accountable. It is possible to run for a second term and still be involved in unethical behaviour.
Zuma went for a second term with the Nkandla scandal hanging over his head and the public debate was highly critical of him until his demise.
Ramaphosa is no different. He is the state president and leader of the ruling party which takes decisions that affect all our lives. His personal life and financial dealings are of public interest and have a direct impact on our constitutional order. The rule of law is clear on that aspect.
He should therefore not be immune from critique and contestation.
The problem with Ramaphosa’s presidency is that it rides on the irregularities of its factional opponents and it presents itself as being the opposite of evil. His presidency is a public relations exercise littered with touches of soft diplomacy and correct speech that is not followed up by any transformative impact.
Ramaphosa’s cabinet members are mentioned in the state capture report including those in his faction. The fuel prices is skyrocketing, as is our unemployment rates and crime levels. The standard of living is too high to ignore. These issues on their own have led to the removal of a sitting president in Latin America and Sri Lanka. These latest revelations would have been enough for his dismissal and criminal prosecution in other parts of the world.
In SA we don’t have such intolerance towards suffering. The people who are supposed to be public intellectual leaders with the boldness to say these things without fear choose a safe landing by offering lukewarm religious analysis of an evil being attempting to triumph over good.
There’s nothing good about power. Our journalists and popular analysts are not mentioning these facts and calling for society to think deeper to inspire action against power.
Journalists in SA need to be more critical of power – now more than ever before. Our quality of investigative journalism needs to improve and of course it needs to be financially supported.
Conducting investigative journalism is an expensive exercise yet a worthy investment in a country’s quality of democracy. To reveal the misdeeds of those in power takes effort, boldness, and could even be a risk to one’s life.
Al Jazeera’s journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered by the police of the Israeli state when she tried to reveal its abuse of power and injustices experienced by Palestinians.
They might not murder journalists here in SA yet, but they sure do get punished by those in authority when they try to hold them accountable.
We’ve heard of local journalists getting retrenched from popular newsrooms when they reveal theft in the private sector. We’ve also heard of government withdrawing advertising revenue from newspapers that speak truth to power.
We will never forget the “don’t buy City Press don’t buy” slogan by ANC bigwigs back in 2012 when Zuma was under the critical spotlight of the press.
And recently, Netwerk24 photographer Adrian de Kock was slapped in the face in parliament by EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu for doing his job.
In China and Hong Kong they arrest professors and academics who are critical of the state.
The list is endless.
But these should not deter the destiny of truth.
This should be the sacrifice we are willing to make for our democracy to survive and thrive. We keep quiet at the risk of our humanity. The real journalists and public intellectuals must begin to talk back to power and urge society to action. If it means being unpopular and getting defunded, so be it.
• Dr Mzileni is a research associate in the faculty of humanities at Nelson Mandela University
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