The Star Late Edition

Ramaphosa’s rosy picture given a blasting

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 years 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 yesterday.

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.

“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 to also set out what our Struggle should be about,” he said.

Ramaphosa is seeking another term as the president of the country, an outcome that will likely be decided by the coming 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.

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.

African Transforma­tion Movement leader Vuyo Zungula said he had no confidence in the report.

“The country is gravitatin­g towards being a failed state. Citizens don’t have confidence in the government, no confidence in the police,” 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: “We have come a long way. But in part what we have achieved needed to be accompanie­d by other achievemen­ts. For instance, when people get houses, there has to be waterat these houses, etc.”