Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa says the period in which he was elected president was quite possibly the one with the most challenges since the country’s transition to democracy.
“No other president has ever faced the challenges that not only I, but also the entire country had to face,” Ramaphosa said on Sunday after a meeting of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) in Boksburg last week. weekend.
During a question-and-answer session, Ramaphosa was asked why the so-called “new dawn” he promised in 2018 has still not arrived for South Africa. Ramaphosa said he could think of at least 14 reasons for this – reasons that include statehood, the Covid-19 pandemic and the riots of July 2021.
“State creation – which none of my predecessors dealt with – really undermined the state’s capacity in more than one way to a point where several state institutions were so depleted that they could not function as they should,” Ramaphosa explained.
According to the president, his administration essentially started from scratch to rebuild the institutions and that progress has since been made in rebuilding the state’s capacity.
“Of course, South Africans want it to have happened yesterday, but it will take time.
“Then came Covid.
“Some criticized us for how we handled the Covid-19 pandemic, but at the same time we saved many lives. Many countries that experienced the same challenges during the same period took a different course with devastating consequences for their people.
“The reforms we started with are in areas that leaders should have dealt with almost 20 years ago.
“Now it has become my problem and I accept that it is my problem; the problem of my presidency.”
To a question about unemployment, Ramaphosa replied: “For a very long time, our economy has not been able to create enough jobs. Note, 2008 was a defining moment when job creation levels began to fall.
“Not in 2018 when I came to power, but in 2008.
“In many ways we did as much as possible to promote the interests of South Africans.”
