LISTEN: Imtiaz Sooliman ‘overwhelmed’ by calls for him to be president

As the country waits with bated breath to find out if President Cyril Ramaphosa will resign or not, Gift of the Givers founder Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman has found himself among a plethora of South Africans who say he is the right man for the top job.

Ramaphosa is yet to address the nation following the release of the damning Phala Phala report.

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Non-politicians for president

A number of names were put into the spotlight, the likes of which include former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, billionaires Patrice Motsepe and Johan Rupert, and the overwhelming favourite, Sooliman.

While many believe Sooliman is exactly what the country needs, he has no political ambitions, and instead remains steadfast in his mission to fix the country from the ground up.

Sooliman ‘perfect’ for South Africa

Sooliman is at the helm of an organisation restoring hope to people around the world when help was needed the most – from Bosnia to Sri Lanka, Haiti, Iraq, Pakistan, Japan, and, of course, South Africa.

Speaking to The Citizen, Sooliman said he was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support he received to lead South Africa.

“This is nothing new; it has been happening for almost one and a half years now, where people created a social media page and wherever I go into the streets, people stop me everywhere. Civil servants, politicians, ordinary people, professionals community leaders and tribal leaders all asking me to stand.”

“I appreciate the trust people have in me, but I got a spiritual instruction not to stand for president.

“In early 1995, my spiritual teacher told me to form Gift of the Givers, and in ’92 told me ‘you will never be involved in politics, in government. You will always work with government,’” Sooliman said.

South Africa is the greatest

Despite the number of crises currently facing the country, Sooliman said “South Africa is the greatest country on earth.”

“This country is not falling apart. Yes, individuals are failing the country, but the country is not going to fail, because we’ve got an overabundance of good people wanting to do good. By with the same token, there’s a lot of good people in government, civil servants, people who want to do the right things. But they need somebody to just to push them and hold their hand.”

Hold hands and build South Africa

Sooliman said the only way to build South Africa is for all people to stand together.

“The only way to build the country, is to take all the good people from all across every sector, hold hands together from inside government and outside government and tell the bad guys, you are in the queue or we kick you in your teeth.”

Who does South Africa belong to?

Sooliman added that the country did not belong to the government, but rather to all South Africans who live in it.

“We take responsibility of saving our country ourselves. We need to build this country – black, white, Indian and coloured, everybody, together in a human compassionate way and we can do it. It’s not impossible, we can save the country,” said Sooliman.

Despite the continuous cycle of crime, poverty and inequality in South Africa, Sooliman remains positive about the country’s future.

Listen to the discussion with Dr Imtiaz Sooliman

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