It is extremely hard to get President Cyril Ramaphosa and his advisers to “wake up and smell the coffee”. Civil society organisations, business leaders, the media, and many others have for years warned him about the tinderbox that is the illegal immigration issue, along with police corruption, municipal rot, and a plethora of other dangers writhing just under the surface of society. He and his beloved ANC hardly ever take notes or act until there is a crisis.