His rise to the presidency has been swathed in general goodwill and relief that the highest office had been released from the clutches of a criminal syndicate. Many people voted for Ramaphosa because they distinguished him from the rot-infested ANC and saw him as the country’s great hope to free us from a perpetual cycle of decay and despair.

It was not that Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address was awful. It was a bland statement of intent without anything tangible to peg it on. The speech revealed the absence of design behind Ramaphosa’s presidency. Even though his heart is in the right place, he does not really have a proper plan of action to arrest the economic and social decline and turn around the country's fortunes...