Veteran ANC leader and activist Mavuso Msimang has critiqued the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa in a frank discussion with TimesLIVE contributor and analyst Eusebius McKaiser.
Msimang argues that Ramaphosa’ fundamental mistake is being “too cautious” and playing a “long game” instead of moving quickly against those who are self-interested and not aligned with the values of the organisation. He says the president should leverage his popularity — knowing that personally it is even bigger than that of the ANC — to chart a new way forward. Instead, argues Msimang, Ramaphosa’s cautious approach allows those interested in corruption to regroup.In a wide-ranging conversation in this episode of Eusebius on TimesLIVE, Msimang also offers a sustained critique of Sunday Times Daily columnist William Gumede’s post-election analysis. He accuses Gumede of displaying “intellectual paucity” for lacking the necessary empirical data to support an argument that voters voted for coalition governance. Msimang cautions analysts to not use “emotion” when analysing electoral patterns and argues that there is no proof voters had “a priori” intention to usher in coalition governments. While scathing of corruption within the ANC-led state, Msimang thinks the ruling party, DA and EFF may do better, but that each has major internal weaknesses that will need to be eliminated to improve their future electoral prospects.