Let’s get real about the ‘Farmgate’ scandal that nearly toppled South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2022. Was it a major political crisis, or just another day in the life of corporate media drama queens? I mean, when you look at how the likes of CNN and BBC spun this scandal, it’s hard not to roll your eyes. They painted it as a scandal of epic proportions, as if President Ramaphosa had personally ensnared the entire nation in a web of corruption. But let’s remember, this is the same media that gives a free pass to plenty of Western leaders who engage in much graver transgressions without batting an eyelash.

While CNN was sharpening their knives, Fox News was strangely silent, likely because South Africa’s politics don’t fit neatly into their “bad guys vs. good guys” narrative. Instead of cutting through the theatrics, they both missed the opportunity to discuss the real implications of Ramaphosa’s leadership—his economic policies and the ongoing issues in South Africa that deserve far more scrutiny than a simple scandal. It’s almost as if they’re content to throw a bone to their audiences rather than deliver hard-hitting analysis.

This “scandal” was sensationalized to the extreme, feeding off a media appetite for drama while dodging the actual meat of governance and accountability. Ramaphosa’s leadership may be flawed, but so is the media narrative that distracts us from real political analysis. What we need isn’t a witch hunt, but a diligent examination of how such issues actually impact everyday lives. The media shouldn’t play politics; they should expose it.