Can we dare to hope that good might triumph over evil?

I hate to say I told you so, but, well, I told you so…

Monday afternoon President Ramaphosa showed that he was totally in charge of this country and, more importantly, the ANC.

Around lunchtime on Monday there were rumours that Ramaphosa would preside over the post-NEC press briefing later that afternoon.

That was a signal that something big was coming. Rarely does the ANC president involve himself in party press briefings –particularly the post-NEC briefings. With a few exceptions since the ANC was unbanned, it has always been the Secretary General flanked by the national spokesperson and sometimes, with a few of the other ANC officials.

“Get the popcorn folks, this is going to be fun” texted a colleague.

It certainly wasn’t all fun, but there were some super entertaining moments.

At 4 pm it started. Of course, there was the usual issue with the unmuting of microphones, but one has to forgive them for that – after all, who amongst us doesn’t still encounter that problem even six months into the Zoom era?

What kept me entertained for a while was to watch the rest of the top six while the president was speaking. On YouTube, ENCA, and the SABC you could only see the person speaking. However, on Newzroom Africa (the impressive new news channel that was launched just over a year ago) you could also see others on the call. With the exception of Ace Magashule, the rest of the top six looked into their screens and listened attentively.

Ace on the other hand (either because he didn’t know that he was visible or couldn’t care less) kept leaving the room and coming back. When he was at his desk he was clearly doing other things – including drinking copious amounts of (I presume) coffee.

That was until the President mentioned that ANC members accused of corruption will have to appear in front of the Integrity Commission. Ace was now paying attention. He looked sharply at the screen and frowned.

The moment passed and he returned to his cup of coffee and other work while occasionally leaving the room. At some stage, someone came into the room (maybe it was that formidable writer, Carl Niehaus) and he quickly switched off his camera.

Meanwhile, the President was calmly, confidently and authoritatively making it clear that there would be no tolerance of corruption under his watch. The optics said it all: He was in charge.

During question time, the press threw everything at Ramaphosa, but nothing seemed to faze him. He answered every question pointedly and frankly. 

Even when it came to the accusations against him, he responded calmly. He left no doubt that he was not concerned about the accusations or appearing in front of the Integrity Commission. (Just as an aside: This was of course vintage Ramaphosa. His opponents thought they could trip him up by challenging him to go to the Integrity Commission and open his books, but he was one step ahead. He had declared that he would appear before the Commission, but of course, that would mean that the other Nasrec presidential hopefuls - Dlamini- Zuma, Sisulu, Mbete et al.- would have to do the same. Apologies for this, but it calls for a Lol!!!)

The really entertaining moment of the press conference was when Ramaphosa responded to a question from a journalist about the Zuma letter, and whether he had responded to it.

“I receive many letters as the President of the ANC and this letter happens to be one of those, so I have not responded to it…and will not even publically entertain the issues that were raised in the letter.”

Ouch, that must have hurt. It was, as my teenagers use to say, “a solid burn”.

At this point, Ace had forgotten about his coffee. He listened attentively, looked over at someone who was off-camera in his office and smiled, then listened again.

His smile disappeared fast as Ramaphosa said that he did not understand what the intention behind the letter was. Ace started to frown and then grabbed a pen and started to furiously make notes.

After Ramaphosa ended, he cleverly asked other members of the top six to contribute, thus gently “forcing” them to go on record with their support. A frail-looking David Mabuza tried to convince us that he was back in perfect health, Mantashe clarified a few issues, Mashatile wondered why there were not more questions about the economy and Ace gave the press a lecture on unity in the ANC and why they are not doing their jobs properly.

Theatrics aside, this was a big day.

As stated before, it shows that Ramaphosa currently has the upper hand, that he is serious about corruption, and that he has a majority of the NEC’s support on the matter. Most importantly, this press conference made it clear that he intends to do everything transparently and openly.

Not only has he instructed that the COVID PPE tender lists be published, but he has made it clear that we will be informed about which ANC members are suspended or asked to step aside. This is in itself one of the most significant steps since corruption can only flourish in the murky darkness of confidentiality and silence.

Of course, the anti-Ramphosa forces will not stop. I have no doubt that there will be an onslaught of stories about Ramaphosa in the media from “anonymous sources” in weeks to come. This remains one of the only weapons the anti-Ramaphasa faction has left to fight back against this looming political wave which could wash them into jail - or at least out of their positions of influence. 

But they will have to bring out the big guns  - metaphorically speaking - if they want to get rid of Ramaphosa. As he indicated on Monday, he is well aware that the highest trees catch the most wind. And he is prepared.

As I went to bed on Monday night, I suddenly thought that perhaps we can dare to quietly hope that good might triumph over evil again in the political arena.