Ramaphosa warns against recklessness
• Deputy president urges caution and inclusive growth
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa warned on Sunday that the ANC should not be “reckless” in its management of the economy.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa warned on Sunday that the governing party should not be “reckless” in its management of the economy and not “drive it to the ground”.
The ANC had to make sure that radical economic transformation led to inclusive growth for the benefit of all South Africans and not to “enrich the few and certain families in SA”.
He was speaking at the Western Cape ANC’s provincial policy conference in Stellenbosch on Sunday, while President Jacob Zuma addressed a Youth Day rally in eThekwini.
Zuma complained that the ANC had obtained political freedom but not economic freedom. He urged young people to be “soldiers” for radical economic transformation” because those with economic power were resisting the transformation of the system.
The debate on radical economic transformation is set to take centre stage at the ANC’s policy conference in two weeks’ time. While factions in the party agree on the need for radical economic transformation, they disagree on what it entails. Zuma and his allies have been accused of using the concept to push the agenda of elites, using the party to allow them a greater slice of the economic pie.
There have been several reports on how the Gupta family used UK-based public relations firm Bell Pottinger to promote this narrative within the ANC and in SA.
Ramaphosa — who is contesting the position of president at the ANC’s elective conference in December — has been accused by Zuma’s allies of being aligned to “white monopoly capital” and of wanting to maintain the status quo in economic relations.
The battle is a proxy for control of the ANC.
Zuma and his allies are backing national executive committee member Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to take over from him in December.
Speaking at the Peter Mokaba Memorial Lecture in Limpopo on Thursday, DlaminiZuma gave the strongest indication yet that she wanted to take over the reins from Zuma.
She reportedly said she felt honoured and humbled that the ANC Youth League had endorsed her as its nominee for party president. “There is no way I can refuse a responsibility given by the ANC,” she said.
In his address, Ramaphosa again took a hard line against corruption and poor leadership.
The country and the ANC both “were not in a good place”. The recent rating downgrades and SA’s descent into a recession would have a negative effect on the poor.
Ramaphosa urged ANC branches to come up with practical solutions during their policy discussions on radically transforming the lives of the poor and tackling the land question.
While the country had to attract local and international investment, in doing so, it should keep its “eyes on the people”, he said. “We should not answer to foreign interests … we should not answer to certain families … or individual interests.”
The ANC’s policy conference takes place from June 30 in Johannesburg.
WE SHOULD NOT ANSWER TO CERTAIN FAMILIES OR INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS