Alliance upbeat on manifesto
ALLIANCE partners yesterday reacted positively to ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa’s election manifesto but also made their demands clear.
SACP second deputy general-secretary Solly Mapaila said the manifesto had renewed the relationship among Anc-led alliance partners since it was aimed at re-energising and revitalising the economy.
“Now people can share in the prosperity of the country since it addresses the issue of the township and rural economy,” Mapaila said.
“We should appreciate President Ramaphosa for his decisive leadership, as he has implemented measures to deal with corruption within state-owned enterprises.”
SA National Civic Organisation president Richard Mdakane said that since the ANC had renewed itself, the organisation would campaign for ANC in the upcoming elections.
“The ANC still has lots to do for the country, such as immediately creating more job opportunities for unemployed young people. Now the ANC must make sure it ends its internal fighting,” he said.
Cosatu president Zingisa Losi said the ANC should focus on saving jobs, which were threatened by the importation of foreign products.
“Workers are saying if we vote for the ANC, it must use state power in a proper way, to benefit the poor,” Losi said. “We should protect the textile industry, especially in Kwazulu-natal.
“We should protect the poultry industry, and also revisit the VAT increase since we didn’t get wage increments.”
Meanwhile, on Twitter, South Africans were impressed by Ramaphosa’s ability to speak several official languages.
“President Ramaphosa addresses the the crowd at Moses Mabhida (Stadium) in Durban… speaks all languages, what a humble leader,” said @Papazulu.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa switching tongues like Drake switching accents,” said @Max.
“Next time he is going to speak in Khoisan too,” said @ Titusmatlawe.
Overall, his speech received a mixed reaction on social media.
Some tweeters were disappointed that Ramaphosa had not spoken about the topic such as the maritime sector, while others said his speech was a repeat of the ANC’S “empty promises”.
Former president Jacob Zuma also trended. Some tweeters said the stadium was full because of his presence and others admired him for campaigning for the party.
However, there was little focus on the actual message delivered by Ramaphosa as most tweets focused on activities at the stadium and joked about it