PRESIDENT CYRIL Ramaphosa has painted a rosy picture of South Africa’s last three decades with 20 days to go before the May 29 elections, saying the country had not plunged into a failed state, but instead was a healthy democracy since 1994.
However, his assertions were blasted by opposition parties outlining the failures of the last 30 of democracy since the ANC has been in power, calling it a public relations exercise to win over voters.
Ramaphosa was presenting, to the country, a report outlining South Africa’s last three decades of democracy in what the government has titled, “30 years review of SA’s democracy report” in Pretoria on Wednesday.
The report was commissioned by the Department in the Presidency of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, headed by the governing party's second deputy secretary Maropene Ramokgopa.
Ramaphosa conceded that for millions of South Africans the promises of 1994 -- when his party took over under former president Nelson Mandela -- had not made meaningful change, but said it had grown the country into a healthy democracy.
On the day of the launch the country was celebrating the 28th anniversary of South Africa’s adoption of its Constitution.
The report focused on four objectives that were adopted on that day 28 years ago.
Ramaphosa said that the country should be proud of its independence because it had an independent judiciary and a free civil society.
“South Africa today is a valued member of the international fellowship of nations. We pursue a progressive foreign policy rooted in advancing the African agenda, in social justice and solidarity, and in support of multilateralism,” he said.
He further reflected on the Constitution.
“The Constitution that was adopted that day gave legal form to the vision, the freedoms and aspirations contained in the Freedom Charter … we have been fortunate to have forebears who had the vision also set out what our Struggle should be about,” he said.
Ramaphosa is seeking a second term as the president of the country that would be determined by the upcoming elections.
ActionSA president Herman Mashaba, speaking to ‘The Star’ last night, blasted Ramaphosa’s report and his assertions, saying it was nothing more than a PR exercise.
“The governing party’s 30 years in review of South Africa is at best a public relations exercise to sell their successes when, in reality, the country did not live up to the potential it had in 1994.
“The reality is that South Africa is not yet Uhuru regardless of what the ruling party would like us to believe.”
Mashaba said while progress had been achieved in electricity distribution and water provision, in the same period load shedding was implemented, our ports became dysfunctional and crime reached new records.
The government’s transformation efforts have failed with inequality rising despite the implementation of misguided empowerment policies, measured by a rise in the country’s Gini Coefficient, he said.
“Our borders have disintegrated allowing drugs, illicit goods and undocumented immigrants to enter our country, while corruption has become endemic in South Africa as we have seen with the state capture report, Covid-19 pandemic PPE scandal, and NSFAS mismanagement.
“And, our economy has stagnated with unemployment skyrocketing to more than 40% and poverty increasing with approximately 27 million South Africans dependent on social grants for survival.
“Clearly, the ruling party has failed South Africans. Our country could’ve been much further developed had we had ethical leadership with the political will to bring the country to a path of prosperity.
“To restore South Africa to a path of prosperity, patriotic South Africans need to take action to remove the evil and corrupt ruling party and vote for a credible alternative which will put the people of this country first,” Mashaba said.
African Transformation Movement leader, Vuyo Zungula, contacted by ‘The Star’ said he had no confidence in the report.
“The lived reality of the people is bleak. People are unsafe due to high levels of crime, the government has failed to manage immigration, unemployment is at a record high, cost of living has skyrocketed and the country is the most unequal country in the world.
“The indicators are there for all to see how the ANC government has failed to govern the country.
“The country is gravitating towards being a failed state. Citizens don’t have confidence in the government, no confidence in the police.
“The government can pat itself on the back but the lived reality of the people paint a different picture,” Zungula said.
Professor Tinyiko Maluleke, who is the deputy chairperson of the national planning commission which plays a role as an independent adviser to Parliament, speaking on Newzroom Afrika, said: “Thirty years of great challenges because when the country started 30 years ago, we did not inherit much. We didn’t even have a country to speak of. What we had was desperate sections of the country, black and white, to the homelands.
“We have come a long way. One of the things that we have done good in this country is that we never lacked ambition. We wanted it to be the best country possible.
“The fact that we may not have been able to achieve everything set out to do. But in part what we have achieved needed to be accompanied by other achievements. For instance, when people get houses, there has to be water at these houses, etc.”
The Star