Share

President promises to hasten service delivery

accreditation
President Cyril Ramaphosa in Limpopo. Picture: Twitter/@anc_dip
President Cyril Ramaphosa in Limpopo. Picture: Twitter/@anc_dip

A thorough clean-up of government is on the cards as President Cyril Ramaphosa prepares to stamp his authority on what will be his new ANC administration after the elections.

Speaking at the party’s fundraising gala dinner in Thohoyandou, in Limpopo, on Friday night, Ramaphosa said the governing party had made mistakes but that things were about to change with him at the helm.

He added that the country should look forward to a lively ANC. “I see this as an exciting period in the life of an organisation. It is like the ANC is coming out of the tunnel into the light.”

The president met with traditional and religious leaders in the Vhembe district, his stronghold in the province, to canvass for electoral support.

At the dinner, Ramaphosa outlined plans for his administration, saying he wanted to hasten service delivery. He said the ANC had good policies but that often, these were not implemented.

“Even at our national conference at Nasrec in 2017, people kept saying that we should move beyond crafting policies, we should now focus more on implementation.

“We have the most wonderful policies that anyone can think of, but it is in implementing those policies that we are slow; we get stuck and we delay.

“Now, in this next term of office, leading government once again, we want to make sure that we hasten the pace of implementation – and more importantly, that we begin to see how we change our execution model.”

Ramaphosa pledged that the ANC’s execution model was going to be reformed to enable the party to rid itself of challenges plaguing it, such as corruption, state capture and rent-seeking.

He said some of the gruesome revelations from the commissions of inquiries that were under way, such as the state capture commission, had implicated government officials and senior ANC leaders.

And, in the face of it, opposition parties were putting him under pressure to dismiss implicated ministers such as Environmental Affairs Minister Nomvula Mokonyane.

Ramaphosa said he was likely to make changes when he returned to his office in the Union Buildings.

“Comrades, in this period of the new dawn, we want to regain credibility so that we can become the leaders of society once again,” he said.

“We have been going through a very rough time with commissions of inquiry and all that. I am saying that from all of that, we should never be discouraged. We should not feel that we are browbeaten ... and [should] hide in a dark corner somewhere.”

Admitting to the wrongs committed by the ANC, he said even elders that he speaks to during the campaign were asking what was going on with the ANC.

“Ordinary people out here in the villages are not fools. They can see what we do as the ANC. When these things happen, and we pause to talk to them, they keep asking: ‘What is the ANC doing about our lives?’,” he said

Ramaphosa condemned the killing of SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) leaders, including deputy secretary in Limpopo, Ronald Mani.

Samwu leaders have taken a tough stance against municipal officials implicated in the looting of the now-defunct VBS Mutual Bank.

“There are those who are still holding on to those corrupt ways,” said Ramaphosa.

“We always know that it is those advocates of state capture and corruption who are going to fight back and resist, to a point where they even kill people.”

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you believe that the various planned marches against load shedding will prompt government to bring solutions and resolve the power crisis?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes
20% - 103 votes
No
80% - 403 votes
Vote