Given the political and economic mess SA finds itself in, and the Nazi-like menace posed by the EFF, veteran journalist Max du Preez can only say: "So now, we cling to Cyril."
That is exactly how most South Africans feel. Even the blind can see that our country is in deep trouble. We are trapped in a tormenting moment where the present and the future unite to haunt us.
In this dark hour Cyril Ramaphosa appears like a spark of hope to millions of frightened South Africans who wonder what will happen to their country. And so, people "cling to Cyril".
Even Ramaphosa’s enemies cannot deny that the man has a likable persona. He speaks almost all SA languages fluently, and is good at projecting an image of integrity. The fact that he played a leading role in negotiating SA’s transition from apartheid to democracy evokes the Mandela magic.
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Given all that, most South Africans are willing to forget Marikana. While people find the president’s-son phenomenon generally offensive, as embodied so odiously by Duduzane Zuma, those who "cling to Cyril" behave as if Andile Ramaphosa is different from Duduzane.
Duduzane received dirty money from the Guptas, and Andile has been paid stinky millions by Bosasa. But the people who crucify Zuma jnr turn a blind eye to Ramaphosa’s dodgy scion.
Maybe fathers should not be punished for the sins of their sons. But Ramaphosa is still a liar.
When the latest wave of serious load-shedding hit SA in February this year, he told us he was "shocked and angry". This is the same man who was tasked with fixing Eskom by Jacob Zuma back in 2014. He knew the whole mess at Eskom, and so could not have been "shocked and angry".
Since people are desperate to "cling to Cyril", they willingly forget that Ramaphosa was Zuma’s deputy not long ago. There was a time when he could not finish a speech without praising Zuma, telling us how great the crook from Nkandla was. Well, maybe we must not remember what former deputy presidents said in the past. Are we to seek solace in forgetfulness?
Even if we forget the past, and fall for a choreographed likability, we will still be confronted with two serious problems: unconvincing ideas, and a rotten ANC.
While it is true that Ramaphosa has made the right signals regarding fixing the criminal justice system, he has told us nothing new. Fighting corruption has always been a hollow ANC mantra. The mantra was trumpeted while Bosasa, the Guptas and others continued to capture our state. Indeed, Ramaphosa was there.
Latest developments suggest that, even under Ramaphosa, (police minister) Bheki Cele and (national police commissioner) Khehla Sitole could still be fighting it out. It all looks like the ANC government we know. And yet we are expected to swallow Ramaphosa propaganda?
The call made by Ramaphosa for foreign investors to flock to SA is another unconvincing idea. Which sane investor would pour his money into a dark hole, a country without a reliable electricity supply?
The most unforgivable crime committed by the ANC is the destruction of public education, especially the collapse of quality education in township and rural schools.
The ANC did this together with its trade union ally, the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu). Has Ramaphosa said anything about this? Is there any sober human being who thinks he will take on Sadtu and fix public education?
Ramaphosa’s most daunting problem is the rot in his party. Look at the ANC’s current top six. Those who "cling to Cyril" must tell us what he will do with the thugs who surround him.
When exuberant journalists write hagiographic articles about Cyril the messiah, you must remind them that (deputy president) David Mabuza, (ANC secretary-general) Ace Magashule and the others who surround Ramaphosa were elected by delegates belonging to a captured party, and that Ramaphosa’s wings can be clipped by such a party.
To imagine that he can single-handedly turn SA around while operating in a fundamentally corrupt party is to expect manna from heaven in 2019.
Maybe such a fable was possible in biblical times, but it is not in SA today.
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