Cape Town - President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was the president who faced the most challenges in the democratic era.
“No president has gone through or faced the challenges I faced,” Ramaphosa told the media at the sidelines of the ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Sunday.
He said he had counted up to 14 challenges that ranged from state capture to broken SOEs and state organs, the Covid-19 pandemic and the July 2021 unrest.
Ramaphosa said none of his predecessors had dealt with state capture.
“State capture in more ways than one broke the capability of the state in a variety of ways to a point where various institutions of state were broken down and could not function the way they should.
“When you lead in a situation like that, you don’t have an immediate silver bullet.
“You have to painstakingly take on all those challenges and rebuild the institutions.”
Ramaphosa noted that state-owned entities, which were key to driving capital investment, were broken down.
“You were starting from zero. None of my predecessors had to deal with that.”
He said in terms of getting to grips and dealing with the issues, they were making progress with rebuilding the state’s capability.
“Of course, South Africans want them to be done yesterday.
“It takes quite a lot of time rebuilding. We are rebuilding that capacity in a number of the institutions.”
Ramaphosa said the repositioning of SOEs was ongoing and would take time.
He also said his government has embarked on reforms that should have been dealt with 20 years ago.
“It has become my problem, and I accept it as my problem.”
The president noted that he had the right team behind him.
He also noted that the economy has not been able to create sufficient levels of jobs for a long time and that the unemployment rate continues to rise.
Ramaphosa defended his style of leadership, especially consultation, which has seen him drawing criticism from some corners.
“There is nothing wrong with processes, and I often say you need to look at PSP –people, systems and processes.”
He confirmed that he placed emphasis on a process that guarantees things would be done rather than a one-shot intervention.
He described the NEC meeting, which was under way when he had “a conversation with the media”, as proceeding very well.
“There has been good spirit, good mood and good cooperation in the NEC. This will end up being the best NEC meeting we have held.
“It has been going smoothly, with a lot of substance and content.”
Ramaphosa said the ANC was not yet where it would like to be after embarking on a renewal programme.
“We are on the way to be a united organisation. The divisions that have dogged us in the past are busy melting away as we embrace renewal, unity and rebuilding of the ANC and improving and dealing openly with the problems and challenges that have beset our organisation in the past.”
Ramaphosa told the media that the ANC was concerned about the instability in local government, particularly coalitions that led to parties jostling for positions and, in some cases, parties promoting their interests at the expense of service delivery and the people.
“It is concerning. Of course, this is a result of citizens of our various cities and metros deciding as they voted.”
Cape Times