President Ramaphosa has declined to make public the Ministerial Performance Assessments he instituted in 2020, contending that he does not wish their disclosure to be used as a political tool to embarrass members of his cabinet.
The obvious conclusion to be drawn is that, at best, the performance assessments themselves are flawed and inadequate, or more likely, that the performance of Ministers is so poor as to expose in black and white what the country already knows experientially. That is, with few exceptions, his cabinet is unfit for office and that the ultimate embarrassment lies with the President for its appointment, retention and performance.
But as 2023 draws to a close, there is nothing preventing the public from conducting its own ‘Performance Assessment’ of the President and members of his cabinet based on the promises, goals, targets and objectives set out in the 2023 State of the Nation Address.
In this year’s SONA the President focussed on tackling the four pillars of national discontent, namely: load shedding, unemployment, poverty and the rising cost of living and crime and corruption. His Performance Assessment in each is an ‘F’ for fail.
Ramaphosa proclaimed progress in the five key interventions contained in the July 2022 Emergency Energy Plan, resulting in a “massive increase in power to the grid over the next 12-18 months and beyond”. Yet, with no hint of self-embarrassment, the President’s 2023 SONA policy solution was to declare a national state of disaster.
The contradiction is all too obvious. Indeed, as has become a characterising feature, the President’s solution was to throw more policy and more Ministers in the Presidency at the problem, resulting in the appointment of a Minister in the Presidency Responsible for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. Ramokgopa’s appointment is a tacit acknowledgment not only of the President’s failure to tackle the energy crisis, but also that of Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe and Public Enterprises Tzar, Pravin Gordhan.