South Africa Must Avoid a Doomsday New Government

Cyril Ramaphosa, president of the African National Congress (ANC), is wealthy, charming, smart — and notoriously indecisive. Helen Zille, federal chairman and de facto leader of South Africa’s pro-business, White-led, opposition Democratic Alliance, is crotchety, pugilistic, controversial — and a very effective political operator.

These two must make a deal, quickly, to corral their clashing parties into a coalition agreement — or else watch as the country descends into a populist and kleptocratic future.