From the Lady R mystery to the electricity crisis, there is no sign the President has made any meaningful push to deal decisively with any of South Africa's problems.

President Cyril Ramaphosa's inability to confirm or deny immediately whether our military sold weapons to Russia is part of a growing mass of evidence that he is not in control of his own government - seemingly unable to control events, or even influence their direction.

Some of this must be his responsibility; he sought election as President. However, it is also true that our state, like many others, has been weakened by the pandemic, and other events that would be beyond the control of any government. In the chaos of the 2020s, it may be impossible to determine what portion of our state's failure is his fault, and what is beyond his control.

On Thursday, just hours after the US Ambassador to South Africa said he would stake his life that Russia received arms from Russia in December 2022, Ramaphosa was asked in Parliament whether this was true.

Instead of either confirming or denying it, Ramaphosa played for time, and said that there would be an investigation. Later, the Presidency confirmed there would indeed be an investigation into the docking of the ship the Lady R and that it would be headed by a retired judge.

Interestingly, Ramaphosa also chided...