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Leave the rats to run for long enough and they will eventually run the house.
President Cyril Ramaphosa. Picture: Gallo Images/ER Lombard
I sat in an RDP house in rural KZN, speaking to its owner and trying not to look up.
Directly in front of me, and past my host, was the entrance to the kitchen, where the sounds of squeaks cascaded into a symphony of noise.
The light from a flickering candle illuminated and projected the running of little creatures onto a wall, transforming them into monsters.
A few years later, this time in suburban Gauteng, I heard running on my roof and a familiar squeak.
Running amok
Rats, like dodgy officials and politicians, can be managed, eradicated, or left to their own devices. If ignored, you run the risk of them going from running around the house to running the house.
President Cyril Ramaphosa faces a similar challenge in his Cabinet, with several ministers implicated in serious allegations.
The latest, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, was this week accused of political interference in police operations and underhanded behaviour.
It comes as the Hawks reportedly investigate another Cabinet member, Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane.
Most weeks bring a fresh revelation about one of Ramaphosa’s executives, a group of people selected by him and deemed among the most capable leaders in the country.
They are in charge of advocating for and protecting the most vulnerable, and yet are often found to be exploiting their position to obtain kickbacks or further their personal agendas.
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And yet, the party that put many of them there doesn’t really see the problem.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula this week defended the pair and other party deployees in Cabinet. He then made a head-scratching warning, suggesting SA must be grateful to the ANC for not collapsing the country after last year’s elections.
Instead of calling for a re-election, he said, the party had chosen the more stable route of forming a government of national unity (GNU). He ignored that some of its ministers continue to demolish the country brick by brick with ill discipline and alleged criminal behaviour.
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What will Ramaphosa do?
The allegations against ministers are, until proven in a court of law, just allegations. They are claims that are either from a concerned whistle-blower or best guesses by political opponents. But you don’t need a dry Joburg winter to teach you that where there’s smoke, there’s a fire.
It is Ramaphosa’s job to look into those fires and deal with them if they are causing any damage.
He has promised to address the Mchunu saga and will address the nation on Sunday. But don’t expect a resolution in a hurry, and accountability will probably never come.
Ramaphosa has often preferred to make empty promises and then quietly shift the rat to another room where the guests won’t notice.
That is not accountability or politics; that is deceptive cronyism that continues to harm the country and erode trust.
Cover-ups, just like Nkandla?
The DA compared the current “protection” of ministers to the ANC’s excuses over dodgy construction at former president Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla home in 2009.
A cover-up, Mbalula has admitted to.
Will he sing the same song again in a few years’ time when questioned about Ramaphosa’s Presidency?
