Is Phala Phala A Chance For South Africa To Put Its Democracy To The Test?

"This systematic criminality, where does it come from? [And] I think all of us have had a sense of this problem that over the years this phenomenon of loss of respect for the law has become more and more widespread..." These are the words of Former President Thabo Mbeki in a lecture given in 2019 titled "Only Human Capital Can Change Society For The Better".  

I've noticed there's a growing trend amongst International Relations, Political Science & Law students and young professionals who seemingly want to be the only ones that have an opinion on the happenings of the country & as a result, believe their opinions hold more value and to be quite honest, I do not understand the logic behind this. After all, you don't get more affected by politics just because you've studied Political Science, at the end of the day, we're all victims of the harsh reality created and perpetuated by politicians whose sole purpose is to address 'politics of the stomach'. 

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about the buffalo in the room. President Cyril Ramaphosa faces a possible impeachment as a result of his failure to report (read covering up of) the stealing of millions of Dollars in his game farm, it's very important that I mention these are US dollars, not Zim dollars.  

The President, according to a recent report released by a panel consisting of 2 retired judges and a practicing Advocate, may have to answer to Parliament on his possible involvement and participation in illegal activities in his game farm which involves the abovementioned matter. 

If 2/3 of Parliament finds him to have acted in a manner contrary to his oath or in a way the Constitution prohibits of him then he will be sacked. I think my wording here is a bit misleading, Parliament cannot 'find' him to have violated any section of the Constitution, only a court of law can do that after he has been criminally charged, what this Organ of State can do is to vote him out if they believe there is a strong case against him and his continued occupation of the highest seat in the land will further compromise the interests of the state and its people. 

If the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) refuses to prosecute him (for whatever reasons they may give i.e. a believed lack of evidence) then any private citizen can take it upon them to ensure that this is done through private prosecution (I'd like to give credit to my Law Of Evidence lecturer for this invaluable piece of information that I will ensure I gooi in even in irrelevant conversations). 

The President has been contemplating stepping down with officials in high positions advising him not to do so YET pending investigations, I think it's a matter of 'waiting to see what the other team has against us before we strike back lest we make ourselves seem guilty.' I'm not too confident the President will sit by and wait for his name to be compromised (by the findings of the investigation), is it not more logical to step aside and mask it as 'acting in the best interests of the country' so to prevent the Rand plunging down further as more & more skeletons are uncovered and in the whole process, make yourself look like a Savior of some sort? After all, he is a businessman before he is a President. 

All of this seems to come as a shock to the many disillusioned individuals who staunchly refuse to accept that "politics is the art of making your selfish desires seem like the national interest" (Sowell; 2013). Politics is not meant to pull anyone out of the gutter, it's quite the contrary, it will continue to uplift those who dare paint themselves as passionate about the advancement of their constituents. 

I guess this collective delusion and continued faith in the purity of politicians is understandable since Ramaphosa's CR7 Campaign gave hope to millions of voters as it was beautifully presented as a serious fight against, inter alia, corruption, state capture & the impropriety of state funds. If you have the ability to compartmentalize and put aside the fact that all these little and seemingly insignificant actions have a direct and tremendous bearing on the lives of about 60 million people and just be a Political Enthusiast for a few weeks then this should be an exciting time for you as all of this is taking place a week or two before the African National Congress (ANC) sits for its National Conference to choose its next leader with CR battling it out for a second term as the Party's President.

What have we learnt? Despite numerous campaigns & drives to get citizens to trust that banks won't crook them off their money, it is unfortunate that some of us still practice the  "as long as I can see it, it's still safe" old fashioned way of stashing money underneath beds, well in this case a couch.