Cometh the hour, cometh the man - Ramaphosa the right president for the GNU job

President Cyril Ramaphosa waves at his guests after taking the oath of office at the Presidential Inauguration at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 29 June 2024.(Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

By Rebecca Davis

19 Jun 2024

At his second-term inauguration in Pretoria on Wednesday, President Cyril Ramaphosa struck a deliberately inclusive and unifying note while welcoming South Africa’s new political reality. But behind the scenes of the GNU, there are already signs that Ramaphosa’s diplomatic chops may never be tested more.

It was the right address from the right president.

Indeed, listening to Cyril Ramaphosa deliver his inauguration speech at the Union Buildings on Wednesday, it was impossible to imagine a South African president, bar Nelson Mandela, better suited for this particular political moment.

Ramaphosa’s message was one of almost defiant inclusivity, from his second sentence: “In our brilliant diversity, we gather to affirm our solemn conviction that this country belongs to all who live in it, as articulated in the Freedom Charter almost 70 years ago.”

This kind of rhetoric has been – as the reference to the Freedom Charter affirmed – part of the non-racial DNA of the ANC since its inception.

But here it was delivered with a particular intensity as a result of the extraordinary political circumstances of the moment.

In perhaps the most significant line of his address, Ramaphosa said, reflecting on the meaning of the election results in which no party received a clear majority: “Above all, the people of South Africa have stressed that they are impatient with political bickering and the endless blame game among politicians and political parties.”

He continued: “They want us to put their needs and aspirations first and they want us to work together for the sake of our country.”

As the face of a political party now humbled by the electorate, Ramaphosa struck an appropriately self-reflective tone in acknowledging that voters have been “unequivocal in expressing their disappointment and disapproval of our performance in some of the areas in which we have failed them”.

Now, said the president, “We have heard you.”

Though he mentioned no political party by name, at several points in his speech Ramaphosa appeared to be directing a veiled critique at former president Jacob Zuma’s MK party and the anti-democratic threats emanating from it since the elections.

He reaffirmed the validity of IEC processes, in a context where Zuma has continuously sought to sow suspicion thereon, saying: “We accept and respect the results of the elections and we once again say the people have spoken.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa waves at his guests after taking the oath of office at the Presidential Inauguration at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 29 June 2024. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

Ramaphosa stressed the importance of translating “the promise of our Constitution”, the foundational piece of South African legislation that Zuma has repeatedly voiced the desire to scrap.

The president spoke out against “every attempt to divide or distract us, to sow doubt or cynicism, or to turn us against one another”, by those who “seek to inflame tensions”.

He said: “Those who seek to undermine our institutions will fail because democracy lives in the hearts of our people and will never be dislodged.”

And, as arguably the emotional crescendo of his speech, Ramaphosa declared: “Today, I make a solemn commitment to be a president for all South Africans.”

He appeared focused and upbeat, seeming to deliver his address largely from memory, and chuckling in good-humoured appreciation at various other points of the inauguration ceremony.

But behind this calm and confident demeanour, one could hardly blame Ramaphosa if his mind was elsewhere. With his Cabinet now officially dissolved, the clock is ticking – although there is no formal legal deadline – for the president to announce his new executive.

His task, in doing so, is exponentially more difficult than that faced by any president since 1994.

Read more in Daily Maverick: All eyes on Ramaphosa to see who gets which Cabinet positions

Ramaphosa must now not only form a Cabinet which to some degree accommodates representatives from, at time of writing, as many as eight separate political parties – ANC, DA, IFP, Patriotic Alliance, Good, the Pan-Africanist Congress and possibly the Freedom Front Plus and the United Democratic Movement – he must also do so only after consulting with the leaders of the parties and achieving, at a minimum, “sufficient consensus” on these appointments.

Further, he must accomplish all of this in a manner which somehow appeases the various factions within his own party as well as its tripartite alliance partners, which have already made their unhappiness clear at the inclusion of parties like the DA and potentially the Freedom Front Plus in the Government of National Unity (GNU).

It is a nightmarish proposition. But if there is anyone up for the job, it might just be Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa, lest we forget, made his reputation as a negotiator in the trade union movement in the 1980s, where he became famous for his ability to bring vastly ideologically different parties together around one table.

His biographer, University of Cape Town politics professor Anthony Butler, in 2017 described this period of Ramaphosa’s career as follows:

“He used intimidation, charm, humour in rapid succession at the negotiating table. He inspired almost awe among his own activists within the union structures because of his exceptional calm under pressure. There was enormous respect for him because he was entirely unfazed by the negotiations process; by the pressures that were an inevitable part of that process. He never showed any signs of experiencing that pressure.”

Ramaphosa will need every inch of those abilities now, and in the days to come.

This is even more so the case because there are already indications of tempers fraying within the not-yet-formalised GNU.

The DA’s Helen Zille, appearing in a TV interview on Tuesday night, accused ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula of having failed to read or understand the GNU agreement by allowing parties like the PAC and the PA into the arrangement without having consulted with the DA.

The PA hit back with a statement terming Zille a “mad bat”.

None of this exactly radiates the ethos of reaching across the political divide for the greater national good – precisely the spirit which Ramaphosa’s inauguration address attempted to establish and broadcast.

But Ramaphosa said the things that needed to be said at this particularly delicate time, leading by example. Even for a master negotiator and peacemaker, however, the days ahead will be hairy. DM

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