Ramaphosa’s caution is strategy, not cowardice suggests Jonny Steinberg

CapeTalk's John Maytham is joined by writer and scholar Jonny Steinberg.

Listen below:

In his latest News24 column, Two Presidents, Two Eras, writer and scholar Jonny Steinberg explores why Cyril Ramaphosa's presidency is the way it is.

Critics of Ramaphosa say he is weak and indecisive.

He is often measured against Nelson Mandela who many view as having led with bold conviction and unified authority.

But Steinberg points out that Ramaphosa’s reference points might not be Mandela at all but rather the political downfalls of Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma.

Suggesting that his caution isn’t cowardice, but rather strategy.

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"I think he has watched what happened to his predecessors, in particular Thabo Mbeki get evicted from his job, and that was very much on his mind and he tried not to make the same mistake."

- Jonny Steinberg, Writer and scholar

"I think it's important to situate him, what he came from, what he fears, what he'd watched before he became president."

- Jonny Steinberg, Writer and scholar

So is Ramaphosa's caution then a survival tactic, asks Maytham?

Adding that it is hard to decipher what the President's strategy is.

"By the time Ramaphosa came along the backlash against Mbeki was entrenched, it was an ideology and his idea was, if you take it on frontally, he'll get beaten, like Mbeki did."

- Jonny Steinberg, Writer and scholar

Steinberg says the legacy of Ramaphosa rises and falls based on what happens after he leaves office and whether the 'project' he initiated can continue:

"His project was to slowly, carefully, gently get what he thought were the key matters right -  which was electrcity, ports, basic infrastructure."

- Jonny Steinberg, Writer and scholar

"At the moment it looks like the rails could come off his project."

- Jonny Steinberg, Writer and scholar

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