By Neealm Rahim

President Cyril Ramaphosa is under pressure following a criminal complaint of money laundering against him and accusations that he was part of a burglary cover-up. There have been calls for the President to step aside and take a leave of absence while authorities are investigating. The President has admitted theft at his farm but denied any wrongdoing. The media reports on the accusations against the President have been surprisingly mild compared with how the media deal with any news involving former president Jacob Zuma. Radio Islam discusses with Media Monitoring Africa’s Thandi Smith.

 “I don’t think there’s enough evidence to substantiate that claim at the moment. I think that the media around this story are asking the right questions like what does it mean for the Presidency? We are dealing with a different public personality. I think one of the reasons that we have a slightly different approach is because there was this hope that he would be dealing with corruption differently and that he was not a corrupt President. Now we are starting to unpack these issues that could tarnish that reputation. The media has been very critical of many wrongdoings and holding the President to account,” says Thandi.

 Those who have made the claim that the media is soft on Ramaphosa argue that it’s not whether they report on his alleged wrongdoings but rather the tone.

 Thandi says, “I think that there was case after case of issues around corruption during Jacob Zuma’s Presidency. And I think we were quite traumatised in the country. Scandal after scandal involved the government and the Presidency, and Zuma. We continue to be shocked at what is coming out time after time.” 

“Maybe the issue is that we are absolutely exhausted from having to report on and hear about yet another corruption scandal.” 

 “We have to go back to the time of Cyril Ramaphosa’s appointment as President. There was a general sense that he came in as the lesser evil and sought the only hope for the moment, so I think that plays a bit into the tone and that public perspective is possibly softer,” says Thandi.