Ball now in Ramaphosa’s court
No Sona pressure, Cyril: just end the rot and get SA back to work
PRESSURE is mounting on President Cyril Ramaphosa to deliver a State of the Nation speech today that will settle the markets, attract investments and fight corruption.
Opposition parties said yesterday the country was at a crossroads and required decisive leadership to rescue it.
They wanted the economy to grow above 1% in order to create more jobs.
Millions of South Africans remained unemployed, and Statistics SA has said the unemployment rate was above 27%.
However, opposition parties said that despite mountains of evidence in various commissions of inquiry, Ramaphosa had not acted and brought top ANC politicians who have been implicated to justice.
Environmental Affairs Minister Nomvula Mokonyane and Minister in the Presidency Bathabile Dlamini were still Cabinet members despite being fingered in malfeasance.
The Right2Know Campaign said it wanted Ramaphosa to act against ministers implicated in wrongdoing.
“The president must cast out the bad apples from the Cabinet before the national elections. We cannot afford any delays: those who have been complicit in acts of corruption must be brought to book,” said R2K.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane said the fact that both Dlamini and Mokonyane were still in the Cabinet was mind-boggling. He also said Ramaphosa must use the State of the Nation Address to answer questions on the R500 000 donated to him by facilities management company Bosasa during his campaign to lead the ANC. He warned that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) posed a risk to the economy.
Cope spokesperson Dennis Bloem said that Ramaphosa must not make the markets jittery. He added that the country needed foreign direct investment in order to ramp up the economy.
He said Ramaphosa must arrest politicians involved in corruption and he had to clean up the state.
“As you heard in the Zondo Commission, it’s not the foot soldiers involved in this, it is senior members of the ANC implicated,” said Bloem.
African Christian Democratic Party leader the Reverend Kenneth Meshoe also insisted that Ramaphosa should act against senior ANC politicians implicated in graft.
He said the president must demand that those who were implicated in the corruption must step down from their positions in government.
National Freedom Party MP Nhlanhla Khubisa said Ramaphosa must fix the SOEs because they contributed to the economy.
Ramaphosa said this week that Eskom could not be allowed to fail. Other SOEs have seen changes of their boards.
Khubisa said Ramaphosa must deal with healthcare and education, as these systems were under pressure. It was also important that the president addressed the economy, as the country needed foreign direct investment.
He must cast out the bad apples before the elections... those complicit in corruption must be brought to book
Right2Know Campaign