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Ramaphosa: I’m too old to make the ANC sexy, fashionable and lovable

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Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.

It is a scorching day in Ikageng, just outside Potchefstroom. Occasionally a breeze blows, stirring up red dust which mingles with some litter that has gathered on the side of the streets, but it offers no cool relief.

Still, at least 400 people have gathered at the Chris Hani town hall. It is meant to be an occasion for young people to interact with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, but both young and old continue to arrive to catch a glimpse at the leader.

But 4pm – the time scheduled for the address – comes and goes. The toddlers grow restless as if they are stuck in a never-ending church service. Ramaphosa is no preacher but when he arrives just before 5pm, clad in black (pants, shoes and an ANC golf shirt), he delivers a fiery sermon that offers sobering words for the young people present.

Moments before Ramaphosa shows up, police stationed outside the building begin to suit up. Casually dressed bodyguards – they wear slacks and short-sleeved shirts made out of light material – politely shove people out of the way where Ramaphosa will walk. The crowd jump to their feet and many make their way to the front of the stage.

“uMandela uthi ayihlome,” sings Ramaphosa as he reaches the stage, flanked by national executive committee member Malusi Gigaba, deputy president of the ANC Youth League Desmond Moela and other regional leaders.

There are no windows in the venue. The doors to the three entrances are wide open but people are forced to make do with caps, hats, scarves and any other available items that they can use to fan themselves in an attempt to ease the sweltering heat.

Ramaphosa’s face is without a drop of sweat. It is as though he and his bodily fluids have had a word and he has negotiated that the sweat stay away while he gives his all-important address.

“You are standing on the shoulders of giants,” he says to the young people, referring to ANC stalwarts like OR Tambo, Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela.

He hails the likes of Gigaba as a young leader before also crediting the South African Students Congress and the youth league for providing leadership and heading up the #FeesMustFall campaign last year.

Framed by the face-brick structure, Ramaphosa begins lamenting what he implies to be a lack of proactiveness from young people he had met throughout the day, who had come to him saying that they could not afford to continue their education. Ramaphosa admits that this angers him a lot.

“The ANC has prioritised the empowerment of young people; it has made sure that today there is almost universal access to education at school level. Today our universities are full to the brim because our government has opened up all doors of learning. The objectives that were set out in the Freedom Charter have to a large extent – except for free education – been achieved. The doors of learning have been opened.

“When we meet young people who are not going to school or to colleges, our hearts are sore. Leaders of the ANC were very educated men and women who placed education above other things. That is why we ask many of you, what are you doing? The doors of learning have been opened. One guy told me he applied for a bursary and did not get it. I told him when I was a student I wrote 2000 letters for bursaries at a number of organisations and companies. I got two bursaries and was able to go to university because my parents could not afford to send me to university.”

A fired-up Ramaphosa says when these complaints were made to him he asked the young people if they had applied for bursaries.

“People said they did not know what [the National Student Financial Aid Scheme] was. Did you apply at your municipality? No. Did you apply at organisations and companies? No. Did you apply at your provincial government? No. So then uzoythola kanjani uhlezekhoneni (how will you get it sitting in a corner?)”

“That is what the ANC is about. Thing don’t come to you, you go to things. Who must go and get those things? You must fight.”

Ramaphosa relays the story of a young girl named Nthabiseng who came up to them during the walkabout saying she needed help because she had applied for bursaries and had not received them.

He and Gigaba thought to reward her boldness and perseverance and would be in touch with her to ensure that she continues her education.

“We must, as young people, get rid of this approach that we are entitled. We must get rid of this spirit of entitlement. Everyone must stand on their two feet and say I am going to succeed. That is when the organisation then comes in – to help those who are demonstrating that they want help.

Before taking his seat again – behind a table covered in the face of Nelson Mandela along with the ANC colours of green and yellow – Ramaphosa urges young people to make the ANC “sexy and attractive, fashionable, lovable and likable,” saying that he in his 60s could not do that and it was up to them.

Newly elected deputy president of the youth league Desmond Moela briefly takes to the stage to say that, “the ANC will remain relevant until Jesus Christ says so.”

The crowd cheers wildly and senior members of the ANC are quick to engulf him in embraces and shake his hand on a job well done.

Just after 6pm the meeting is adjourned. Ramaphosa is rushed back into the arms of his large blue-light-brigade entourage.

Some residents try to make moves to speak to him, and others want one more song from him. But before they know it, his cars have sped off in a cloud of dust.

“Forgive him, you will speak to him another day, he had to go on,” said an ANC media person to a visibly upset man.

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