How well Cyril Ramaphosa has done as South Africa’s president since the African National Congress party won the country’s May 2019 general election depends on whether his performance is assessed through a political or economic lens. Following his inauguration on May 25th as South Africa’s fifth post-apartheid president, people expected a freshly mandated Ramaphosa to move quickly to tackle crippling public sector corruption and the major challenges hindering economic growth. Public frustration at his perceived inertia increased in early December when South Africa’s beleaguered power utility, Eskom, left the nation facing the worst blackouts in the country’s history with Christmas only weeks away. According to economic experts, South Africa’s dysfunctional state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and its spiralling debt, which stands at 3.2 trillion rand (€198 billion), must be addressed urgently if a looming economic meltdown is to be avoided. Ratings agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have also issued similar warnings to the IMF, with both downgrading South Africa’s economic outlook from stable to negative in November.

Source: The Irish Times December 27, 2019 15:56 UTC