Conversations with leaders
Partnerships and consensus building are key to a better future, says President Cyril Ramaphosa
As South Africans look to the future, energised by President Cyril Ramaphosa's call in his State of the Nation Address (SoNA) for renewal and change, the focus will be on partnerships and consensus building to ensure a better future.
“A new era has dawned, and we are embracing the call for a new partnership to build a new nation in which all may be free, secure and equal,” said President Ramaphosa.
He added that for the country to defeat poverty and equality, all social partners and South Africans needed to unite in pursuit of a common national agenda.
“Collaboration, partnership and consensus building are essential features of our past and are essential in determining our future,” said President Ramaphosa in his reply to the SoNA debate.
He also recalled former President Nelson Mandela's way of getting people involved in changing their own lives for the better.
“Madiba urged them to become their own liberators,” he said.
Following suit, government has called for a new social compact, founded on the principles of social justice, solidarity and equality, to advance the interests of the people.
The President's plan
The President shared with members of Parliament his plan to take the
country forward.
“I do have a plan. It's the National Development Plan and I call for consultative processes and summits because our people want to be involved.They want to participate,” he said.
The President explained that the job summit that he spoke about in the SoNA was called for by the trade movement in South Africa.
“They represent the people and want to sit down with government, business, communities and ourselves as workers to chart a way forward to see how we can create jobs. A clever government would heed that call,” he pointed out.
Similarly, the social sector summit announced in the SoNA aims to bring together South Africans who have the skills, experience and capabilities to address the critical challenges that beset the country.
“I am confident that we can move with urgency and purpose to forge a new social compact, to revive our economy, create jobs, reduce inequality and effect fundamental social and economic transformation.”
“We want all South Africans to participate but more than this, we want all South Africans to lend a hand,” he said.
Elaborating on the investment summit, the President said,“I want the best companies in South Africa, the continent and the world to get together to make commitments on investments on how they are going to create jobs for our people.”
The original sin
Addressing the issue of the expropriation of land without compensation, President Ramaphosa said that the taking of land from indigenous people in the country was the original sin.
“It caused divisions, hurt and pain amongst our people.There are few in our country who would contest that the dispossession of black South Africans of their land contributed fundamentally to the impoverishment and disempowerment of the majority of our people,” he said.
The expropriation of land without compensation is envisaged as one of the measures that government will use to accelerate the redistribution of land to black South Africans, he added.
“We will need to determine, collectively, how we can implement this measure in a way that promotes agricultural production, improves food security, advances rural development, reduces poverty and strengthens our economy.”
“For it to serve this purpose,
we will need to locate this measure within a broad and comprehensive land redistribution and agricultural development programme,” said the President.
He stressed that in dealing with this complex matter South Africa would not repeat the mistakes of others and would not allow “smash and grab interventions”.
“We will handle this matter in the same way we have handled all difficult issues our country has had to handle. We will always seek to do what is in the interests of our people,” said the President.
The Marikana tragedy
Another issue raised in the SoNA debate was the Marikana tragedy during which 44 people lost their lives.
“Marikana was one of the darkest moments in our young democracy. I would like to use this opportunity to address the role that I played in my capacity as a Lonmin director in the events of that tragic week.”
“Notwithstanding the findings of the Farlam Commission on my responsibility for the events that unfolded, I am determined to play whatever role I can in the process of healing and atonement. In this, I am guided by the needs and wishes of the families of the 44 workers who lost their lives,” said the President.
After investigations, three broad areas were identified for action, namely compensation for the injured and the families of those who lost their lives, examining the procedures of public order policing and preparing valid cases for prosecution.
“Government is making progress with continuous engagement with the legal representatives of the victims, especially on matters of families who lost their loved ones. This must be concluded in the
coming months,” he said.
Protecting women
President Ramaphosa described the economic inequality between men and women in the country as a grave injustice.
“It is a task that requires both a deliberate bias in economic policy towards the advancement of women and a fundamental shift in almost every aspect of social life.”
“One of the programmes where we have sought to integrate various approaches is the ‘She Conquers' initiative, which aims to empower adolescent girls and young women to reduce HIV infections, tackle gender-based violence, keep girls in school and increase economic opportunities,” he noted.
It recognises how patriarchal attitudes, poverty, social pressures, unemployment and lack of adequate health and other services conspire to reduce the prospects of young women – and then involve these women in overcoming these challenges.
The President also called for a united effort to tackle the chauvinism experienced by women in the workplace and other social settings.
“We must confront the social and economic factors that prevent young women from completing school, entering higher education and graduating,” he said.
Government has adopted an integrated programme of action to eliminate all forms of violence against women and children.
“With the support of communities, we aim to prevent such violence
“The most important people in this country are those whose shacks are flooded with every rainfall and whose taps run dry whether there is a drought or not.”
by transforming attitudes, practices and behaviours.”
“We are working to provide a comprehensive package of services to women and children affected by violence and to improve the provision of long-term care, support and empowerment of survivors of violence,” the President added.
State-owned entities
Turning his attention to stateowned entities (SOEs), President Ramaphosa said that to address governance and financial management at specific SOEs, government would develop an overarching SOE strategy to support a developmental growth trajectory.
“We will soon be completing work on a new, centralised ownership model that allows for better strategic alignment, improved coordination and more effective oversight.”
“It is proposed that this include a State-Owned Company Coordinating Council, chaired by the President, which would be responsible for high-level strategic direction,” he said.
The President explained that the new ownership model would incorporate new methods for funding SOEs, which could include a shift towards a greater mix of debt and equity finance.
In addition, government would meet the board chairs, CEOs and CFOs of SOEs to clarify their commercial and developmental mandates and discuss their plans for financial sustainability and the promotion of local manufacturing.
With regard to corruption, the President said it was time to implement the resolutions on the conduct of lifestyle audits of all people who occupy positions of responsibility, starting with members of the Executive.
People first
The President said he was humbled and encouraged by the way in which South Africans of all walks of life have responded to his call for everyone to work together to build a new, better South Africa.
“They are galvanised by a sense of patriotism that elevates the interests of the country above narrow, selfish interests. They are moved by a conviction that tomorrow will be better than today,” he noted.
President Ramaphosa stressed that the most important people in the country are not those who walk the red carpet in Parliament, but those who spend their nights on the benches outside its gates.
“The most important people in this country are those whose shacks are flooded with every rainfall and whose taps run dry whether there is a drought or not.”
“It is those who have been looking for work their entire adult lives, who have had to drop out of school, who are suffering from preventable diseases, who have been orphaned or abandoned, who rely on an old age pension to feed their families, who do not have the seed or the implements to work their small piece of land,” he said.
Government and society must put the interests and needs of these people first, urged the President.