I remember when Cyril Ramaphosa first became president of the country. Because of the perilous state of our economy and the catastrophic levels of unemployment, poverty and inequalities, many people were excited at the prospect of having someone with a background in business as the state president.

But the excitement was more than about his assumed strengths – it was also the result of people being fed up with the administration of former president Jacob Zuma, which had been marred by corruption, maladministration, misappropriation of state resources and the destruction of democratic institutions...