North West a ‘wake-up call’, says Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted that the political crisis in North West caught the ANC by surprise.
Ramaphosa was speaking at a dialogue with academics and professionals in Sandton on Thursday evening, as part of the governing party’s Thuma Mina campaign.
“What happened in the North West really gave us the biggest and loudest wake-up call,” he said.
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The province was hit by violent protests and strikes, which eventually culminated in the resignation of Premier Supra Mahumapelo.
Ramaphosa said he believes part of the solution is the building of a capable state.
"Building a capable state means that the state has to operate properly at the national level at the provincial level and at the local government level.
“That is where there are a lot of failures we’ve identified. We are going to work really hard to make sure our local government serves the interests of our people.
“We are going to work with Parks Tau and Salga (The South African Local Government Association) to reposition our local government through the lengths and breadth our country.
“If there was anything that I want to focus more attention on it is precisely this at local government level because that is where our people live."
Ramaphosa said South Africa can no longer afford to be the "face of corruption” but needs to be graft-free with good systems of governance.