A few days ago, a video of President Cyril Ramaphosa standing outside the home of Hangwani Morgan Maumela alongside radio personality Thabo “Tbo Touch” Molefe and bishop Noel Jones went viral on social media.
Maumela is the alleged kingpin in the shocking looting of more than R2bn at Tembisa Hospital, details of which are contained in a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) interim report published two weeks ago.
Maumela, through a network of his companies, is alleged to be the mastermind of the largest of the syndicates that stole billions intended for a public healthcare system that is in a state of collapse. His syndicate got more than R800m of the R2.1bn that was looted from the hospital and he is under investigation, with assets worth hundreds of millions having recently been seized by law enforcement.
Ramaphosa was once married to Maumela’s aunt years ago.
The video sparked a lot of discussion about Ramaphosa’s relationship with Maumela – one which the presidency has publicly stated is non-existent. In a statement clarifying the viral video, the presidency argued that Ramaphosa lives less than a kilometre from Maumela’s sprawling mansion in the exclusive Sandhurst neighbourhood of Sandton and that the president has often walked past the house on his regular walking routine.
The president’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, contends that the encounter was purely coincidental and that the president uses these fitness walks to engage with staff, ministers, friends and members of the public. It is for this reason, he argued, that the president stopped outside Maumela’s house to take a photo with Tbo Touch and bishop Jones.
Ramaphosa is known to take regular fitness walks. There have been many videos of him taking walks in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Several members of the public have posted photos with him while on these walks, with many runners on the Atlantic seaboard in Cape Town frequently sharing their encounters with him and his security detail.
Furthermore, the Sandhurst and Hyde Park areas of Sandton are home to numerous high network individuals and politicians. Thus, there should logically be nothing untoward about the viral video.
The reason the video is causing a storm has more to do with the complete lack of trust in Ramaphosa and politicians in general than anything else. The reaction by the public is reflective of the extent to which South Africans have lost trust in our political leadership.
There is prima facie evidence before the Madlanga commission and parliament that our elected officials are in bed with criminal syndicates operating in the country. Additionally, the dark cloud of Phala Phala still hangs over the president’s head, especially as more shocking revelations about the robbery are coming to light.
All this, and many years of unethical and downright illegal conduct by politicians in our country, have created a climate of distrust that has resulted in a collective refusal to give politicians the benefit of the doubt. This was evident when the news of the death of ambassador Nathi Mthethwa broke.
Few people believe(d) the official story that he died by suicide after leaping from a hotel building in Paris. In the minds of many, an alternative reason must exist – one in which someone other than Mthethwa is responsible for his death.
This climate of distrust in SA illustrates that people no longer believe anything that comes from the mouths of political leaders. This should not be dismissed as simple cynicism on the part of South Africans but should be viewed as the crisis of legitimacy that the government is confronted with.
A complete loss of trust in the government is the beginning of its loss of control over the population. Couple this with economic decline, non-provision of public services, widespread corruption and criminality and widespread civil unrest, and you have all the ingredients for a failed state.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.