The free ride for SA is over

The annual World Economic Forum shindig at Davos last week was bliss for President Cyril Ramaphosa with all that networking with fellow billionaires, presidents and influencers.

- William Saunderson-Meyer

The annual World Economic Forum shindig at Davos last week was bliss for President Cyril Ramaphosa with all that networking with fellow billionaires, presidents and influencers. Ramaphosa delivered a "special address" to outline his plans for SA's 2025 presidency of the G20. He explained how lucky the world was to have an African hand on the tiller because "it was in Africa where humans developed the capacity and impulse for cooperation". He also wove in some Nelson Mandela quotes, always a crowd-pleaser.

It was a disconcerting speech, detached from evolving realities. Ramaphosa seems unaware, or maybe just indifferent, how quickly the election of President Trump and the US exit from the Paris Climate Agreement, as well as a worldwide electoral backlash against the cost of "net zero", is forcing governments to adjust their national policy trajectories.

No sooner had he arrived home than his administration was engulfed by two crises: the potential loss of billions of rands of US donor health care funding and a stinging military setback in the DRC.