Ramaphosa Presidency ‘More Wasted Years’: Analyst

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Political economist Professor Jannie Rossouw has offered a critical assessment of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidency, describing it as a period of “more wasted years” with little progress to show.

Rossouw’s comments follow President Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), delivered at the Cape Town City Hall on Thursday night.

According to Rossouw, despite the initial optimism surrounding Ramaphosa’s presidency and his promises upon assuming office, there has been a notable lack of delivery on those promises.

He emphasises the gap between rhetoric and action, noting that promises made last night echoed similar assurances from the past five years, yet tangible results have been scarce.

Rossouw extends his critique to the economic sphere, stating that under Ramaphosa’s leadership, the South African economy has failed to gain momentum. He questions the effectiveness of the President’s strategies and policies in addressing the country’s economic challenges.

“When Mr Ramaphosa became President, he came with a lot of goodwill and he made a lot of promises. He has simply not delivered on the promises, his administration has simply not. We’ve heard promises about progress again in last night’s SONA, we’ve heard these promises over the past five- years – we’ve not seen the results. So, from that perspective- in my view the Ramaphosa presidency, this period was nothing but more wasted years- our economy has not accelerated.”

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