Remember Ramaphoria? Those halcyon days, when selfies with Cyril, as he walked on the promenade, made headline news, made us smile.
We’ve gone from Ramaphoria to Ramareality, Ramaphobia and Ramarecession in just a few months. Yes, those are all words coined by the media to write about how, apparently, the joy of Cyril Ramaphosa’s election as President has faded, the euphoria making way for Ramageddon, apparently. That last one is the creation of The Guardian, with their mildy hysterical 9 September headline, “How South Africa’s ‘Ramaphoria’ turned into ‘Ramageddon'”.
Of course, the political analysts and economists are often happy to agree with the narrative that Ramaphosa can’t possibly turn this ship around. Yes the ANC have alot to answer for. How did they ever agree to install Jacob Zuma, which resulted in the almost complete erosion of our state, basically handing the keys over to the Gupta family? The corruption, the cronyism, and the greed which must have consumed many of those in the ANC will be a lasting blemish on them.
The good news is that this corruption is finally being exposed, slowly but surely, at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, and the Nugent Commission of Inquiry on SARS. Our Parliament is finally holding our leaders to account. Parliament recently held public hearings on whether the Constitution should be amended to allow for expropriation without compensation. A wide range of views were heard, with 650 thousand submissions on the matter.
The land question is currently one of the biggest discussion points in the country, and everyone is looking to our President for answers. What is clear is that knee-jerk reactions from the likes of the EFF and Afriforum only serve to divide people. It was comforting to hear Ramaphosa speak openly and plainly to international investors in New York this week.
Ramaphosa assured the international community that the process being followed is “wholesome”, and many South Africans have come forward to pledge their support. From private land owners coming forward offering to give up some land, to land owned by the state, Ramaphosa says he is confident the land issue can be resolved for the benefit of all South Africans.
“We are doing all this relying on what I call our South African DNA. The DNA that is inbuilt, in the way we do things, is that which we were taught by Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela taught us that rather than resolve our problems, however intractable they might be, through war and violence, resolve them through talking to each other.”
Ramaphosa appointed a diverse panel of experts recently to discuss the best way forward on land reform. From business to academic experts, including the Agri SA president, legal professionals and farming entrepreneurs, the team has the best interests of all South Africans at heart.
Together with the economic stimulus plan that our President announced earlier, I think it’s high time we revive Ramaphoria again, and all pull together. A nation in step with itself will achieve greatness.
