Like Mars, the ANC is a planet hostile to any form of intelligent life…

In its audacity and frustrations, it reminds one of Nasa’s search for life on Mars. I’m referring to our odyssey to discover whether there is intelligent life in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government.

The results are not dissimilar.

In the US, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration recently announced that, despite initially exciting results, verifiable signs of life have yet to emerge on the red planet.

Likewise, here, a recent National Treasury report briefly ignited hopes that there was cognitive activity in that foetid morass known as President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet.

Unfortunately, sentience doesn’t necessarily mean intelligence.

The unusually forthright report, which was leaked to the Sunday Times before the Cabinet had seen it, predictably was swiftly denounced by the government’s alliance partners, the SA Communist Party and the Congress of SA Trade Unions, as well as by individual ministers and the party apparatus.

The report laid down bluntly the minimum actions the government needs to take to avoid the country’s fiscal obliteration.

That the Treasury dared to produce such a brutal analysis, given that there’s a general election looming next year, is evidence of the extreme seriousness of the situation.

While the detail of what might occur is what is driving the reaction to the analysis, they’re missing the most important aspects of what Finance Minister Ernest Godongwana and his team are saying – that it’s crunch time.

Action can no longer be deferred, the options have narrowed; there is going to be wailing and gnashing of teeth, with blood on the floor.

Treasury is not overstating the perils. All the statistical indicators are flashing red. Godongwana said this week that there was “tremendous strain” on the government’s financial resources to address its service delivery priorities.

“Continued load shedding, the poor performance of our logistics sectors and the lasting damage done by state capture to our institutions, have made the difficult fiscal situation even more challenging.”

For a short while, it seemed that Ramaphosa was behind this new dawning of reality. The backlash, however, may yet dissuade our conflict-adverse president, who reportedly has told the Treasury to rework its numbers.

At a virtual meeting with Ramaphosa, one union federation leader said the Treasury’s analysis spread “much panic” and added threateningly that it created “the risk of anarchy”.

On Wednesday, ANC economic transformation head Mmamoloko Kubayi, who is also the minister of human settlements, came with the most important response, suggesting that the Treasury was constitutionally out of line. It was “attempting to usurp”

Ramaphosa’s powers and had failed to consult properly with the party.

“On something like this, the mandate of government is that of the ANC.”

The subtext here is a none-to-subtle warning to Ramaphosa. There are already signs of retreat. Godongwana told parliament the government did not intend to cut spending on infrastructure and social services.

Treasury also excluded Transnet and Eskom from its cost-cutting proposals.

What the denouncers of the Treasury are also missing is that if a determined effort is not made to right the economic ship in November’s medium-term budget statement, the pain is going to be even greater by the time that budget speech is delivered in February next year.

There are few signs that the ANC leadership comprehends this.

The party is in survival mode – more accurately, close to panic mode – and will do everything and anything, whatever the cost to South Africa, to placate its supporters.

Like any malignancy requiring treatment, the longer the delay, the grimmer the prospects.

But like Mars, the ANC is a planet hostile to any form of intelligent life.

Ask the Treasury.