Mboweni weighs in on Prince Mashele’s claims Ramaphosa is 'SA's weakest president yet'

Former finance minister Tito Mboweni has weighed in on political analyst Prince Mashele’s criticism of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

In a piece for Sowetan, Mashele compared Ramaphosa to former president Jacob Zuma, saying the latter had more backbone than “SA’s weakest president”. 

While many agreed with the columnist, Mboweni was not impressed.

“I find Prince Mashele’s attack of President Ramaphosa distasteful, arrogant, unbecoming, uncouth, below par, uncivilised, backward, disrespectful, unwarranted, disdainful and of the lowest common multiplier,” he exclaimed. 

In his piece, Mashele said after Zuma’s tenure it became easy for Ramaphosa’s strategists to dupe the public by using slogans such as “renewal” and “thuma mina” (send me).

“The problem with propaganda is that when all the clever marketing is done, people want to see the performance of the marketed actor himself, not the work of gifted choreographers. That is precisely where Ramaphosa has disappointed,” Mashele.

“Shortly after he was elected ANC president, we were told Ramaphosa was the right man to unite and rebuild the ANC. 

“Is there a sane human being in SA who has seen any evidence of the ANC being rebuilt since 2017? If anyone has come across such important evidence, please share it with us,” he said.