LISTEN: ANC vows to grow economy, create jobs as it launches manifesto
The African National Congress (ANC) says it is hard at work correcting the mistakes of the past few years.
President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed the ANC’s 2019 elections manifesto at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday.
The official programme was delayed by an hour and national chairperson Gwede Mantashe cut the speeches short after messages of support from its alliance partners, including Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi and SACP leader Blade Nzimande.
Losi assured Ramaphosa that Cosatu will support the ANC and is tasked with ensuring that it walks away victories in the national and provincial elections in May, while Nzimande appealed to the ANC to reconfigure the tripartite alliance.
Thousands of ANC supporters flocked to the stadium to listen to the party’s plans to win back the votes it lost in the 2016 municipal elections.
“We must acknowledge that state capture and corruption have weakened several of our public institutions, undermined effective governance and contributed to the poor performance of our economy. We must also acknowledge that factionalism and patronage have diminished the ability of the ANC to lead the process of transformation and fulfill its mandate to the people. We admit our shortcomings, we accept the criticism of the people and we are hard at work to correct our mistakes,” said Ramaphosa.
An optimistic Ramaphosa reiterated plans to raise R1.2 trillion in new investments in the next five years.
“Working with all social partners, we will intensify our efforts to restore investor, business and consumer confidence and ensure policy consistency and certainty. We will implement reforms in economic sectors that have the greatest potential to grow and create jobs. We will take measures to lower the cost of doing business in South Africa, increase productivity and improve competitiveness.”
He said he party is confident that the measures will contribute to creating an estimated 275 000 jobs each year, which will double the rate of employment creation.
The party has in the recent years been lambasted for failing to take action against government and ANC officials who are implicated in wrongdoing and those found to have acted unlawfully by courts of law.
Ramaphosa said this will change.
“We, therefore, will not tolerate those in the public services or in political office who are negligent or use public resources for their own selfish gains. Legislation and regulations already exist to prevent public servants from doing business with the state and we will be more diligent in monitoring compliance with this legislation. We warn transgressors that there will be consequences for those who do not comply.”
Read the Manifesto here:
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