Gwede Mantashe believes the ghost of South Africa’s apartheid past will come back to haunt the country if it is not exorcised.
The ANC secretary general predicted that there would be turmoil in the country years down the line if the country was not fundamentally transformed to ensure that all citizens enjoyed the economic offerings.
“We have delivered freedom to the people, and now is the time to deliver transformation so that all the citizens of this country can enjoy and participate in the economic benefits,” Mantashe said in his address to the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, one of whose affiliates is the Greater Alexandra Chamber of Commerce.
The Alex chamber was represented by its president Mpho Motsumi, who described Mantashe’s transformation talk as a critical element for stability in the country and for economic prosperity.
“No meaningful business can be conducted in a country that is in turmoil. We need to ensure stability for economic prosperity, and the way we can ensure that stability is by transforming the various economic spheres of the country to benefit all,” Motsumi said.
Mantashe singled out the agricultural sector and said transformation was a necessary evil. “We cannot continue and pretend that life is normal when 35 000 white farmers occupy 82 percent of the land and the rest of us are left crammed in 13 percent. This is not defensible,” he said.
“White farmers should not see themselves as victims of change. Change is necessary and is always associated with loss, but they should become part of that process and drive it as one of the ways of healing our apartheid past and its land imbalances.”
He added that the same applied to big corporates.
He said property rights was another thorny issue, pointing out that it was protected under the Constitution, but that protection was qualified in the sense that it allowed for expropriation to fulfil the mandate of government in terms of public interest and for the purposes of land reform to bring about equitable provision of resources.
“If we don’t transform this country for the benefit of all, there will be chaos… in years to come. Those who were denied opportunities and rights to participate in the economy of the country will not sit idle and allow the status quo to continue. They also aspire to be wealthy and we should facilitate that,” Mantashe said.
