ANC is on a march to victory – Ramaphosa

As the campaigning season comes to a close, political parties over the weekend made their final pushes in a scramble to make an impact on voters.

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa declared before thousands of supporters yesterday who packed the 62 000-capacity Ellis Park stadium for the Siyanqoba (we conquer) Rally that his party was “on the march to victory”.

“The future of our country is in your hands and the time has come to say we will win,” he said to a thunderous applause.

“We have reached a moment in our history to return to the path of conflict and anger, or a path of renewal and peace. Let us declare that we choose to go forward – hope over despair, growth over decline. During our campaign, we have met workers, teachers, doctors, artists, nurses, farmers, artisans, religious and traditional leaders.

“We have also met the unemployed, people without running water, sanitation and shelter. We have been told of the impact of the rise in food and fuel costs. “People want jobs and service delivery now and we agree with them,” said Ramaphosa.

He conceded that while progress was made during the 25 years of ANC rule, not all went well.

“We’re humble enough to acknowledge mistakes we’ve made. But it is only people who do mistakes who say we are sorry about them, while others are arrogant to acknowledge them.”

Should the ANC be re-elected to office, Ramaphosa said his administration would:

• Raise R1.4 million in foreign direct investment into the struggling economy, which should be made competitive to create jobs;
• Ensure that agriculture becomes the sunrise sector;
• Build industrial parks and support small businesses, bolster the township and rural economies;
• Redistribute land, in line with the ANC 2017 national elective conference resolution;
• Grow the tourism industry and encourage youth to take up jobs in the sector; and
• Build a million houses in the next five years.

One of his biggest tests should Ramaphosa return to the Union Buildings will be how he deals with widespread corruption in government, which marked the Jacob Zuma presidency.

He said: “We’ll never surrender our freedom to corruption and state capture. We will fight with every means to ensure that those that are in authority in the ANC and in government, serve public interest and not their pockets.

“We expect steps to be taken against all those involved in corruption and malfeasance because we have restored the rule of law.”

– brians@citizen.co.za

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