{"id":67557,"date":"2022-06-07T21:37:34","date_gmt":"2022-06-07T19:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=67557"},"modified":"2022-06-08T09:19:15","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T07:19:15","slug":"are-we-softer-on-ramaphosa-than-we-are-on-zuma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/are-we-softer-on-ramaphosa-than-we-are-on-zuma\/","title":{"rendered":"ARE WE SOFTER ON RAMAPHOSA THAN WE ARE ON ZUMA"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\u00a0By Neealm Rahim<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/em>\u00a0discusses with Media Monitoring Africa\u2019s Thandi Smith.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s 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,\u201d says Thandi.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Those who have made the claim that the media is soft on Ramaphosa argue that it\u2019s not whether they report on his alleged wrongdoings but rather the tone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Thandi says, \u201cI 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe the issue is that we are absolutely exhausted from having to report on and hear about yet another corruption scandal.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe have to go back to the time of Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s 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,\u201d says Thandi.<\/span><\/p>\n