Phapano Phasha: We are led by the worst in society

President Cyril Ramaphosa is surrounded by advisors that are “mainly inept”. So says political commentator Phapano Phasha. She says he has “juniorised” his office with people “who cannot lead”. Meanwhile, the President is also “highly embedded” in the narrative surrounding allegations of police capture made by General “Lucky” Mkhwanazi. Phasha predicts that “whoever has the money will likely win the ANC conference and become the next ANC president”. In this factional race, SG Fikile Mbalula “has everything intact because he's got external people who support him. He is in charge of branches. But he's the weakest of them all.” Commenting on former President Jacob Zuma’s threat of further legal action and political mobilisation unless the President resigns by Friday, Phasha says his MKP is on a collision course. “It's like the Titanic… that kind of organisation, it will eventually break. But for now, I think it's a necessary irritation because what we're having is we're having a GNU and this GNU is unfortunately not able to hold the ANC accountable.” Meanwhile, she warns that the Democratic Alliance (DA) is likely to be punished in the next election. “I had hoped that the NEC would agree to kick off the DA out of the GNU because what you would then have is a more robust Democratic Alliance.” She also blasts Gayton McKenzie’s Patriotic Alliance (PA) as a party that would not be in Parliament in a “seasoned democracy”. “But unfortunately, this is where we are. Our politics are mediocre. We are led by the worst in society. Professionals, academics and business people, the patriotic intelligentsia has taken a backseat and allowed this type of people to lead our country.”