Cyril Ramaphosa’s de-emphasis of social welfare
The new ANC president focused on how government and business efficiency could be improved, but ignored a role civil society could play
The ANC’s newly appointed national executive committee (NEC) released its January 8 statement last week. The statement formed the basis of a speech delivered at the party’s 106th birthday celebration in East London at the weekend by its new president Cyril Ramaphosa. Given that it was a birthday speech being delivered to thousands of ANC supporters in a festive mood, it is unsurprising that Ramaphosa did not read the NEC’s January 8 statement verbatim. What was intriguing about his delivery, however, were the elements of the statement that he glossed over and omitted. These omissions palpably reveal his biases. The ANC’s January 8 statement is comprehensive covering growth, development and redistribution. It specifically highlights radical economic transformation, land redistribution without compensation, free higher education and black economic empowerment as important areas for intervention. It identifies mechanisms to accelerate the realisation of these objectives. But, in delive...
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