SA not in a good place – Cyril
Deputy says SA is in a bad place
South Africa and the ANC are not in a “good place”, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has conceded.
Ramaphosa, who is in the running to be the ANC’s next president in December, was addressing the party’s Western Cape provincial policy conference in Stellenbosch yesterday.
Members of the Western Cape ANC gathered in preparation for the party’s national policy conference which takes place in Johannesburg later this month.
The conference was also attended by NEC members Pallo Jordan and Derek Hanekom.
Ramaphosa, who was warmly welcomed by delegates, also had words for those who are “behaving badly” in the party, saying their actions don’t just affect them and their families, but the entire country.
“Where we are right now, our movement is not in a good place. Our country is not in a good place. And now here is where the issue really is important, as we sit here, this mighty glorious African National Congress, it gives us the platform to voice our views on behalf of our people. It gives us the platform to come up with proposals to see how we will get out of this situation that we are in,” said Ramaphosa.
The deputy president said radical economic transformation should not benefit just a few families.
“We have a lot of resources. It is because you have the wrong people in a number of positions,” Ramaphosa said.
“Radical economic transformation should lead to inclusive growth and does not lead to the enrichment of just a few or certain families in South Africa.”
He said the ANC does not exist for itself alone.
“The ANC exists for the people of South Africa. The ANC is the parliament of all the people of South Africa.”
He said when the party implements its policies, it must always bear in mind “that we are doing this for the people of this country”.
On the recent junk status downgrade and the economy, Ramaphosa said the country needed policies that will address these.
“Where we are now with the various challenges our movement faces, the various challenges that our country faces, the economic challenges, the junk status that we are in now, the economic recession that we are in now, they must then say we must come out with practical workable policies that will bring radical and fundamental [change] in the lives of the most vulnerable and poorest of the poorest.”