Ramaphosa not keen on cleaning up graft

Behind every successful man, the old saying goes, there is a woman.

In our local context, we could say that behind a less-than-successful president, there is a whole bunch of highly influential women… the ANC Women’s League.

And he seems terrified to make any move which might annoy them.

That’s because, as a voting bloc within the ANC, the league exerts tremendous power and is, these days, the difference between winning and losing the election for the top spot as the party – and national – president.

That’s why it took Cyril Ramaphosa so long to act against Sisisi Tolashe who, as minister of social development, appointed her friends and family to important roles and, allegedly, used a department employee as nothing more than a maid for her family home.

She was prominent in the women’s league and clearly believed she was, therefore, untouchable.

And, as we have seen with Ramaphosa’s latest Cabinet reshuffle, she may have been on to something, because it appears as though you can be dodgy, but still be rehabilitated to the extent the ANC will give you a Cabinet post.

That’s how Dina Pule has now inherited the position of minister of social development from Tolashe.

This despite the fact that Pule was sacked from Cabinet in 2013, for corruption, cronyism and maladministration, by then president Jacob Zuma, not exactly a saint himself.

Zuma had no real option, however, because Pule’s mischief had been highlighted by then-public protector Thuli Madonsela.

How serious, then, is Ramaphosa about really tackling corruption?

On the evidence of this, you have to say: not at all. It’s ironic that an organisation like the ANC has a body called the integrity commission, supposedly to probe unethical behaviour among cadres.

Could it be that the commission’s job is to sniff out those with integrity… and then disqualify them from holding office?