There comes a time in the lives of men, women and organisations to fight for principles and not merely for survival, because the textbooks of history will judge them harshly, if they fail to uphold principles upon which they once stood to be recognised as people or organisations of worth.
Ramaphosa is one such person, who bided his time, as vice president, as he helplessly watched Zuma carry on like one big wrecking ball, destroying every sector of government and the economy and almost sold our country to the Guptas. Ramaphosa, through no fault of his own, had to incorporate members into his cabinet from the old guard to prevent a showdown with the vociferous Zuma faction, headed by Magashule.
Some of the past baggage that Ramaphosa left out his cabinet has left the Zuma faction most upset. The Zuma faction are at war with the integrity committee and want them disbanded if they don't reverse their decision on the list of members they, the integrity committee, felt that should not avail themselves for office because of their track record.
Now is the time for Ramaphosa to not sit back but assert his presidential authority and run the country as he sees fit and as the citizens expect him to. Ramaphosa was voted in office by the citizens of this country and not the backstabbing Magashules of the ANC. The electorate gave Ramaphosa victory at the elections, so that he could head the country without begging for the questionable support of the EFF to form a government.
His appointment of De Lille to his cabinet must come as a huge slap in the face of the EFF.
Ramaphosa must take on the Zuma faction, gloves off, to rid the ANC of this corrupt faction along with his manipulative and disloyal SG, Magashule, who spoke very disparagingly about him publicly after the elections. His next step would be to get rid of the incompetent public protector, who is not only incompetent but extremely tainted for carrying an anti citizen's agenda in the way she selects and rules on cases that she investigates.
Her spat with Gordhan before the president's inauguration was a blatant attempt to embarrass the president. The EFFs support for her, will not help her much to save her job nor her image, if she still has one. These men in red wanzis, the purported champions of the poor, have said nothing about her white washed report on the corruption of the Estina dairy farm project. A project the Magashule has been heavily implicated. The effs silence says a lot about their sincerity to fight injustice.
Chief justice Moegweng Moegweng's steadfast exhortation to the new ministers to carry out their duties according to the letter of the law and with diligence, should serve as a shot in the president's arm to hit hard at the corrupt in the ANC. The corrupt Zuma faction will feel like old battered runners of the comrades marathon, who will give up their running as their ailing legs give in.
South Africa wants a clean start, a new start and one with hope for the future of the thousands of unemployed citizens and the future of the country. Our country has suffered too long, so we cannot waste another day on the ANCs petty squabbles and faction fighting. Now is the time for the president to show his party, the country and the world, who is in charge because South Africa is fully behind him.
Dr Ellapen Rapiti is a family physician, specialising in child and mental health and addiction counselling.