Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is a South African politician currently serving as Minister of Energy. He was responsible for leading the turnaround that brought the loadshedding crisis to a conclusion. The last time South Africans experienced persistent loadshedding was in late 2023 or early 2024.
Ramokgopa is not perfect. He has his own little procurement scandal from back in the days when he was Mayor of Tshwane (Pretoria). But he represents the direction the ANC needs to move toward to recapture its lost voters and put a cap on the DA’s growth, not to mention to stop destroying the country. Ramokgopa is a qualified engineer and is more of a technocrat. Simply running him as the leading candidate would be a signal that moving forward, the ANC is going to go back to its roots and emphasize education, qualification and commerce, rather than ideology. He has served in an executive role before becoming President, as well as a Ministerial role, and can run and be judged on his achievements or failures.
The current leading candidate for the ANC Presidency would be Patrice Motsepe, a successful businessman. Motsepe is also okay. I wish we could have an ANC (and DA) where we have two or more high quality candidates like Ramokgopa or Motsepe competing for votes in a well designed primary system. Instead, ANC elections are controlled by delegates (branch leaders) and the culture is strongly against campaigning. Ordinary members don’t get a vote. In my opinion, this tilts things towards patronage politics. DA elections are run in the same way. Often the preferred candidate of the funders and party establishment is chosen, and their political instincts are questionable. A small crop of old leaders still dominate the DA. Down ballot of the DA, it’s all mini-dictatorships which seldom even change the party leader, with just a few exceptions.
I believe that the path to fixing South Africa permanently comes down entirely to reforming the electoral practices and cultures of the political parties.
The inage above is a widely shared meme in South Africa. In the picture, Ramokgopa is seen dancing with one foot in the air and a yellow cloth in hand, with his tongue out. I used the meme to make a broader political point, and because I think learning about other country’s political memes is a good way to feel more familiar with the political culture of that country, which is a goal many people in this sub have.
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Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is a South African politician currently serving as Minister of Energy. He was responsible for leading the turnaround that brought the loadshedding crisis to a conclusion. The last time South Africans experienced persistent loadshedding was in late 2023 or early 2024.
Ramokgopa is not perfect. He has his own little procurement scandal from back in the days when he was Mayor of Tshwane (Pretoria). But he represents the direction the ANC needs to move toward to recapture its lost voters and put a cap on the DA’s growth, not to mention to stop destroying the country. Ramokgopa is a qualified engineer and is more of a technocrat. Simply running him as the leading candidate would be a signal that moving forward, the ANC is going to go back to its roots and emphasize education, qualification and commerce, rather than ideology. He has served in an executive role before becoming President, as well as a Ministerial role, and can run and be judged on his achievements or failures.
The current leading candidate for the ANC Presidency would be Patrice Motsepe, a successful businessman. Motsepe is also okay. I wish we could have an ANC (and DA) where we have two or more high quality candidates like Ramokgopa or Motsepe competing for votes in a well designed primary system. Instead, ANC elections are controlled by delegates (branch leaders) and the culture is strongly against campaigning. Ordinary members don’t get a vote. In my opinion, this tilts things towards patronage politics. DA elections are run in the same way. Often the preferred candidate of the funders and party establishment is chosen, and their political instincts are questionable. A small crop of old leaders still dominate the DA. Down ballot of the DA, it’s all mini-dictatorships which seldom even change the party leader, with just a few exceptions.
I believe that the path to fixing South Africa permanently comes down entirely to reforming the electoral practices and cultures of the political parties.
The inage above is a widely shared meme in South Africa. In the picture, Ramokgopa is seen dancing with one foot in the air and a yellow cloth in hand, with his tongue out. I used the meme to make a broader political point, and because I think learning about other country’s political memes is a good way to feel more familiar with the political culture of that country, which is a goal many people in this sub have.
Oh, also here’s the video the pic is from: https://youtube.com/shorts/WsbkKgE8SmM?si=lcX1TRSvslwbAPBb