The election of Cyril Ramaphosa as ANC President is too little too late for the ANC, and means very little for the people of South Africa who have been left behind in poverty and joblessness.
This is the view of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in a statement released shortly after the news that Ramaphosa was elected at the ANC’s new leader.
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“The ANC is dead and cannot self-correct, no matter who is at the helm. This is because the party itself is held together only by the glue of patronage and corruption, and Cyril Ramaphosa is just a new face to the same old ANC. The future of South Africa lies outside of the ANC. It is up to the voters to bring about total change by removing the ANC in 2019 and ushering a new beginning for our country,” read the DA’s statement.
The hard work of a contestation of ideas begins. The anc is deeply divided, Guptas still in the leadership, essentially Mafia is still in place. I’m looking forward to the 2019, change that focuses on economic growth, jobs for youth. Clean government and educated SA is our offer
— Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) December 18, 2017
The opposition party also said Ramaphosa now leads a deeply divided organisation, which has evolved into a self-serving party that has forgotten the poor and the jobless.
“The truth is, no matter who leads the ANC, cabinet and policy direction is determined by the party, and it has been these ANC policies that have sought to withdraw South Africa from the International Criminal Court (ICC), kept poor people locked out of the economy, captured the mining sector, chased after an affordable Nuclear Deal, and increased unemployment with now over nine million South Africans without a job,” the DA said.
According to the DA, Ramaphosa has stood in Jacob Zuma’s shadow for years, silent in the face of his crimes and the crimes of fellow ANC comrades. “His election means that the corrupt system that is oppressing South Africans will continue. Ramaphosa has relied on David Mabuza to secure a marginal victory, in turn electing him as Deputy President. As Premier of Mpumalanga, Mabuza has presided over a collapsing province, characterised by maladministration and corruption, while keeping people in poverty.”
The party went on to point that even before being elected ANC Deputy President in 2012, Ramaphosa’s political career has been one of silence towards corruption in government. “He has shown no willingness or ability to fight corruption and state capture. While serving as Jacob Zuma’s deputy president since 2014, he sat silently on the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) while the ANC looted the state and stole money from the people of South Africa.”
The party said Ramamphosa’s first act as ANC President must be to recall Jacob Zuma as President of the South Africa, prosecuting him for his corruption charges, and jailing him if he is found guilty. If he fails to do so, Ramaphosa will show South Africa that the leaders in the ANC are all friends, and they practice their corruption together.
In addition to this, the DA said Ramaphosa must ensure an immediate plan of action is adopted, which seeks to do the following:
- Scrap any version of a “Nuclear Deal”;
- Appoint a new, competent National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) in order for prosecutions against Zuma and others to swiftly proceed;
- Commit to a National Budget that is balanced and sustainable, and carefully manages the public sector wage bill;
- An entire overhaul of the structure and management of State Owned Entitles (SOEs), including a “clean up” of captured boards and executives, and selling off those SOEs which strangle our economy and the national fiscus; and
- Ensure that a future cabinet is comprised of fit for purpose individuals, rather than a “rewards scheme” for certain factions within the ANC.
These are the short term interventions that Ramaphosa must urgently action.
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