RAMAPHOSA UNBOUND: Can Cyril Ramaphosa break free of his Promethean chains? By J Brooks Spector parkhurst1
In ancient Greek mythology, Prometheus was the Titan who broke the monopoly of the gods to give humankind the gift of fire . For his troubles, he was condemned by Zeus to be chained to a mountaintop and to have large carnivorous birds pluck at his liver forever and ever .
This revision has obviously been occasioned by Ramaphosa’s recent inauguration as South Africa’s president in his own right, after taking over in 2017 from the increasingly disgraced Jacob Zuma. For anyone familiar with recent South African developments, the close look at Ramaphosa’s student days as a nascent organising genius of high school evangelist groups and then at the University of the North as a leader make for revealing reading. They offer fascinating insights into how Ramaphosa was learning the craft of organising others into supporting a common purpose.
Along the way, Ramaphosa began to take the measure of his mining house opponents, even as he built personal bonds with such people as Rick Menell of the AngloVaal gold mining giant and Bobby Godsell of the Anglo-American mining conglomerate during always-contentious wage and workplace negotiations. Presumably well-positioned to gain a deputy presidency position under Nelson Mandela, Ramaphosa was elbowed out by Thabo Mbeki and Ramaphosa was thereby cast out or exiled himself from the inner circle.
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