OPINION - It appears President Cyril Ramaphosa is on a slippery slope to self-destruction in the way he’s handling the controversial issues cropping up around him. The CR17 campaign is a case in point.
Politicians - some of whom have admitted to receiving funds they were not entitled to - are popping up all over the place. Cosatu is the latest to admit it received money to ostensibly campaign on Ramaphosa’s behalf - “ostensibly” - as we have no way of establishing if that money did not end up in the union officials’ pockets, just like the politicians.
The irony is that Ramaphosa is behaving exactly like Jacob Zuma, who used to blatantly ignore and not respond to major issues that arose about him during his presidency.
It’s not enough for Ramaphosa to hide behind the bland assertion that he was not operationally involved with the CR17 campaign, a statement that has been deservedly questioned.
But let us accord him the benefit of the doubt. He should take the country into his confidence to explain. And he must identify those who were in control of CR17 in order for them to account for why they behaved in the way they did.
It would be interesting to know what Ramaphosa’s business donors are thinking about this revelation that they were, in their quest to elevate him to the presidency of the country, actually financing the personal interests of individual politicians and most laughably some who are officials of their nemesis, the EFF.
Somebody knows the truth about this matter. Pravin Gordhan and DrJames Motlatsi have revealed that they were involved in running CR17.
Ramaphosa is abetting his own demise if he does not act decisively.
Dr Thabisi Hoeane Pretoria East