With more information now coming into the public domain about how a large quantity of cash (US$) was stolen in early February 2020 from President Cyril Ramaphosa's game farm Phala Phala, near Bela-Bela in Limpopo, and his failure to report this to the public, it is now realistically possible that this could weaken him in a very critical way and, in the process, significantly alter the course of our democracy.

It is the worst public image crisis since Ramaphosa returned to formal politics as deputy leader of the ANC at the 2012 Mangaung conference. Unless this is handled correctly, it can potentially derail his stated ANC renewal agenda, with serious repercussions for the ruling party's prospects of retaining power after the 2024 national elections.

It should also not be forgotten that the first public source of these claims, the former head of the State Security Agency Arthur Fraser is, to put it bluntly, not a man who can be trusted. He faces serious allegations and there is zero doubt that he is stoking this fire solely for his political agenda of helping RET return to full control of the ANC and thus, South Africa, especially its security cluster.

Any claim...