This is what Ramaphosa must do to cement his authority

Once Cyril Ramaphosa settles in behind “The Desk” at the Union Buildings and has finished going through the drawers to see what the previous occupant has left, he has a little more than a year to cement his position as president.

One of the first things Ramaphosa should do is go on a sophisticated local and international media blitz, top political analyst Daniel Silke said.

“It would need to be a substantial worldwide campaign to indicate; ‘I am in charge, I am going to do things differently, South Africa is back’, similar to what he said at Davos in Switzerland as the ANC president,” Silke said.

“He should then set a cautious but upbeat tone in the State of the Nation address which will have sentiment shifting aspects in it, some of which we have seen in the past few months.”

Ministerial committee after ministerial committee, a new Eskom board, a judicial inquiry into state capture, are just some of the effects of Ramaphosa having been elected as ANC president.

Silke said some of the things Ramaphosa could do immediately was reduce the size of Cabinet, and commit to protect the integrity of institutions of the state, such as the National Prosecuting Authority.

“He will have to restate these things. The real issue in the short term is going to be the economic consideration,” Silke said.

With a rand seemingly powered by how many times in an hour the phrase “Zuma Exit” is mentioned, it’s been a roller-coaster few weeks for the temperamental currency.

Leading economist Mike Schussler said Ramaphosa would have cut back on a lot of government costs.

“But before he even gets there, he’s already trying to restore confidence. I think both consumer and business confidence are gone and probably the quickest way to do that is to act against corruption,” Schussler said.

“He will also have to cut the costs of many of the state-owned enterprises which have very high cost structures such as high salary levels.
“The same with government departments of which we have many which will show people he’s moving in the right direction.”

Both Schussler and Silke said a smaller Cabinet would be the first sign things were changing.

Cabinet currently has 400 people, the maximum allowed by the constitution which permits a minimum of 350 people.

He will also have to appoint the right people in critical ministries such as the departments of trade and industry, finance, and certainly the justice and police,” said Schussler.

For Ramaphosa certainly, the job is just beginning.

– amandaw@citizen.co.za

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