Ramaphosa under fire over dwindling economy, handling of corruption and lawlessness

President Cyril Ramaphosa faced intense criticism while tabling the Presidency’s budget vote in Parliament, with MPs targeting his handling of corruption, lawlessness and the fragile Government of National Unity, among other issues. 

The address comes two weeks after explosive allegations of criminal syndicates and political meddling in the police service, over which Ramaphosa announced the establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry to probe.

“These allegations are serious. They are also untested. It is therefore necessary that we establish the facts through an independent, credible and thorough process so that we can ensure accountability and safeguard public confidence in the police service,” Ramaphosa said. 

KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged serious misconduct on the part of Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, including links to criminals and disbanding a specialised task team investigating political killings. 

Several MPs and ordinary South Africans criticised the decision to establish the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, arguing that previous commissions had failed to produce meaningful results, especially criminal prosecutions. Ramaphosa, however, dismissed the backlash as “wrong and not borne out by evidence”. 

Read more: Ramaphosa’s new police inquiry — while sitting on two previous reports 

Mchunu’s special leave

There was also an expectation that Ramaphosa would act swiftly on Mchunu, whom he placed on special leave. The President defended the decision, saying a harsher sanction would set a dangerous precedent. 

“Some have said that I should take immediate punitive steps against the minister on the basis of untested allegations. Not only would this be unfair, but it would create a dangerous precedent,” Ramaphosa said.

EFF MP Nonthando Nolutshungu said her party had written to Ramaphosa on Wednesday morning, accusing him of undermining good governance and of constitutional delinquency.

“You cannot place a minister on special leave while he will continue to draw a salary and ministerial benefits while he has no verifiable duties and functions, but because the President is committed to patronage, because the Presidency is an extension of managing the factional affairs of the ANC…” she said. 

“You have undermined the confidence of our people even on mechanisms to uproot corruption such as judicial commissions of inquiry, because you are known to establish commissions, task teams, special units and special envoys that have become employment agencies for cadres you cannot deploy to Cabinet and Parliament,” she said. 

Meanwhile, the IFP’s Nhlanhla Hadebe, whose party is in the GNU, said part of the public’s concerns about the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry stemmed from people still waiting for prosecutions resulting from the R1-billion Zondo commission.

Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi welcomed the establishment of the commission, but echoed the frustrations of other MPs over Ramaphosa’s lack of decisiveness. 

“South Africans are asking to see a sense of urgency from the executive in dealing with corruption and lawlessness. Yes, numerous cases are in the courts, but what frustrates South Africans is that it takes so very long for those responsible to be charged, let alone sent to prison. It sends a message that our systems of accountability are paralysed against those who either have power or have proximity to it,” Zibi said. 

Corruption

MPs did not mince their words in condemning Ramaphosa’s handling of corruption, particularly involving ANC members.

The uMkhonto Wesizwe party’s John Hlophe said: 

“This is a President whose couch swallowed millions in foreign currency in Phala Phala while desperate South Africans trying to survive by selling food on street corners are harassed, chased and arrested by police.”

Hlophe, whose party has taken to the streets to pledge support for Mkhwanazi, said they would continue to support him and expose the rot no matter how high it went. 

He further argued it was hypocritical of Ramaphosa to speak of fighting corruption when he had simply moved ANC ministers facing damning allegations to other portfolios, but had fired a DA deputy minister. 

Last month, Ramaphosa removed Andrew Whitfield from the position of deputy minister of trade, industry and competition after he undertook an international trip to the US without the President’s permission. 

Thembi Simelane

In 2024, Daily Maverick and News24 revealed that former minister of justice and constitutional development Thembi Simelane lived an extravagant lifestyle in 2018, while she was still mayor of Polokwane, when she spent 569% more than her known annual income, and had links to VBS Mutual Bank. 

After mounting pressure, Ramaphosa requested a detailed report and meeting with Simelane, whom he later removed from her position and appointed as minister of human settlements.

“This inconsistency reeks of selective morality. It shows that protecting your faction is more important to you than protecting the people of this country,” Hlophe said. 

Seta scandal

Nolutshungu slammed the President for his “silence in the face of corruption”, pointing to her party’s role in exposing controversial board appointments at the Sector Education and Training Authority. 

Among those appointed were people linked to the ANC, including Buyambo Mantashe, son of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe. 

The DA has since laid criminal charges against Higher Education and Training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane for lying to Parliament about ANC cadre appointments. Ramaphosa has not acted. 

The commissions established by Ramaphosa, according to the EFF, were merely “multimillion [rand] bureaucratic distractions”. 

‘Worsening problems’

The DA’s Darren Bergman queried what Ramaphosa’s legacy would be – his first term left much to be desired, since many of the problems he inherited had worsened. He referred to anaemic economic growth, rising violent crime and the collapse of municipalities. 

 “Now that you have been given a second chance in the GNU, do not waste it, especially as problems remain, particularly in your office. Despite having two ministers, deputy ministers and a handful of director-generals, the Presidency still holds the paralysis of the previous term. More bureaucracy has not bolstered oversight…” 

ActionSA’s Athol Trollip was also critical of Ramaphosa’s administration, which he said had failed to follow in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela. 

“You started this term by increasing your Cabinet from 66 to 75, and then on Sunday increased it more by adding a minister at large, which costs taxpayers an additional R250-million a year. This does not combat poverty and inequality; it compounds it.” 

National Dialogue 

In about a month, the country will host a National Dialogue, which comes with a price tag of R700-million, aimed at addressing a wide range of the country’s pressing issues, including unemployment, poor governance, slow land reform, poverty and hunger, gender-based violence and social fragmentation. 

However, doubts remain about whether the dialogue will lead to tangible outcomes – or end up as yet another talkshop with no real change. 

Read more: The National Dialogue — Wishes vs Reality 

The DA, the second-biggest party in the GNU, has already made it clear it will not take part. The MK party will also boycott it, while the EFF said it would take part to convey the message that it was the ANC, and not the people of South Africa, who had destroyed SOEs, failed to create jobs and allowed drugs to destroy young people. 

“The people have spoken, and you don’t need R700-million to repeat the message they gave you at the ballots in 2024,” the EFF’s Nolutshungu said. DM