South Africa’s new leader vows to fight corruption and fraud
President Ramaphosa tells the nation he wants to build ‘a society defined by decency and integrity’
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa declared a new era of hope had arrived for South Africa as he used his second day of office to deliver the State of the Nation address, pledging to tackle corruption, unemployment and inequality.
“We should put all the negativity behind us because a new dawn is upon us,” Mr Ramaphosa said, a day after replacing Jacob Zuma.
“There is a greater sense of optimism among many of our people. Our people are hopeful about the future,” he added.
Mr Ramaphosa, 65, was sworn in after Mr Zuma handed in his resignation under pressure from the African National Congress on Wednesday, following mounting accusations of fraud, bribery and corruption.
Mr Ramaphosa pledged to crack down on the country’s troubled stateowned enterprises by ensuring that they do not drain the national coffers and are run by qualified boards.
“This is the year in which we will turn the tide of corruption in our public institutions,” he said, and added, “we must fight corruption, fraud and collusion in the private sector with the same purpose and intensity.”
“We are determined to build a soci- ety defined by decency and integrity, that does not tolerate the plunder of public resources, nor the theft by corporate criminals of the hard-earned savings of ordinary people,” he added.
Mr Zuma was originally scheduled to give the address earlier this month, but it was postponed as the ANC came under pressure to make him stand down.
After Mr Zuma resigned, the ruling party scrambled to get Mr Ramaphosa inaugurated quickly so the world could see that South Africa’s government was returning to business after weeks in limbo.
In his speech, Mr Ramaphosa did not sugar-coat the problems the nation faces, citing rising poverty levels, worsening unemployment and deep inequities more than 20 years after the end of apartheid. “We remain a highly unequal society in which poverty and prosperity are still defined by race as well as by gender,” he said.
“For several years our economy has not grown at the pace needed to create enough jobs or lift our people out of poverty.”
He proposed a raft of measures to combat the country’s yawning wealth gap, including schemes to employ youth, invest in manufacturing and small and medium-size businesses, and introduce the nation’s first minimum wage in May.
In contrast with previous years, when police were on standby to keep protesters at bay, this event had a celebratory air and security was kept to a minimum.
More than 1,000 guests were invited to the speech in the parliament buildings in Cape Town. They arrived on a red carpet outside in full black-tie regalia at the annual event.
In keeping with tradition, all former presidents were invited to the speech, but Mr Zuma did not attend.
Mr Ramaphosa noted but did not dwell on the messy political transition that took place only days before, instead thanking Mr Zuma “for the manner in which he approached this very difficult and sensitive process” and for his service to the nation, to boos from the lawmakers in his audience.
“We are at a moment in the history of nation when the people, through their determination, have started to turn the country around,” he concluded.
“Now is the time for all of us to work together.”