Give Ramaphosa bells

Give Ramaphosa bells

Sello Morake

What a speech!!! Can you believe it that the newly sworn in President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa fits in the presidency like a hand in a glove?

Yoh! It’s like Ramaphosa has been a president for many years. In his maiden speech in the National Assembly, Ramaphosa was assured, confident, firm, humble and cracked a few jokes here and there but delivered a power packed speech in which he was addressing the nation not reading to the nation on Friday, 16 February 2018.

I had a feeling that this man standing in the legislature delivering his first speech a day after he was sworn in as the fifth South African president since 1994, should have been a president after former president Thabo Mbeki left office. This is the man who showed that he was a human being who is in touch with the ordinary folk of the country. I remember in 2015 while working for a daily Newspaper covering him in Botshabelo, I had an opportunity to have a one on one interview with him.

Ramaphosa back then struck me as someone who really had the interest of the people at heart. I threw a lot of questions to him and he responded satisfactorily to my questions. He also asked me a few questions about myself and also if I had read the manifesto of the ANC and what was I doing to inform the public about the policies of the African National Congress. I had been assigned to cover Ramaphosa as he visited the local church and thereafter going from house to house with his entourage on a campaign trail. People told him a lot of stories of poverty and some told him that they were struggling to get their ID books.

Ramaphosa listened carefully and responded to a lot of complaints from the people. He was followed by a large crowd as he interacted with the local folk in their language with ease. No one was translating for him.

His spokesman was very helpful as he made me feel comfortable in interviewing the then second most powerful man in the South African government. Ramaphosa wore an ANC T-shirt which had the face of then president Jacob Zuma and felt comfortable speaking with the local folk in Botshabelo, one of the largest townships in South Africa after Soweto.

His advantage is that he is multilingual and can speak any South African language with ease unlike some people who can’t even string a sentence in the second language among all the eleven official languages. Ramaphosa is also a widely read individual who told me that he read more than five books in a month. He is such an avid reader as some people can’t even read one book in a year.

In his speech Ramaphosa teased Julius Malema, who was all smiles unlike back in the years when he had become rowdy whenever former president Jacob Zuma read to the nation. Malema even clapped his hands when Ramaphosa set out the tone for what will happen in the next day in his state of the nation address (SONA) which was attended by the who is who of the politics and some celebrities.

He paid homage to his predecessor who did not bother to show up at the SONA. His speech sounded like he had been practicing it for many days before, because he faced the camera and the members of the parliament when he was speaking. Ramaphosa, without a doubt is a good speaker who reminded me of Barrack Obama who faces people when he speaks.

He came across as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a company when he laid out his plans for what he was going to do in his tenure. If his speech is anything to go by, ANC is going to have a comfortable triumph in the 2019 elections and the opposition parties are going to have a difficult time to try to woo them to vote for their various parties.

Ramaphosa touched on important issues that are affecting the nation, such that there are 17 million social grant recipients and that the government together with the private sector was going to ensure that jobs are created for the unemployed youths so as to end poverty. He emphasized the role of young people in the economy, that those who are not working would be given opportunities to do internships with government and private companies.

He said those who want to enter sectors such as manufacturing would be assisted so that they can become successful industrialists. Ramaphosa said the mining industry should be treated as a sunrise sector not a sunset sector as it were. He said mining had the potential to alleviate poverty just like agriculture and tourism.

Ramaphosa told the parliamentarians who just ate out of his palm that South Africa was a beautiful country that should welcome tourists with open arms as tourism was an important sector that could bring a lot of dividends. He said investors were hopeful that things were changing for better as he was gearing up on clamping down on corruption, thereby showing an interest to invest in the country.

Ramaphosa said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and South Africa Revenue Services (SARS) were important departments that needed to be strengthened to do their job independently without any interference. This could signal marching orders for both Shaun Abrahams and Tom Moyane.

When he spoke about fighting corruption, members of the EFF shouted the name of the ANC Secretary General and Free State Premier Ace Magashule. It is believed that Magashule was involved in the Estina Vrede dairy farm project which collapsed under his watch while mining minister Mosebenzi Zwane was the MEC of Agriculture in the Free State.

Ramaphosa said he was going to cut the size of the much bloated cabinet and this could mean bad news for some ministers who are going to be shown the door.

I must say Ramaphosa did extremely well for his first state of the nation address as he was able to bring unity in the parliament as all members of the National Assembly gave him a standing ovation even before he could wrap up his visionary speech.

If they were totally sold by his concise speech, Ramaphosa was not done yet as he quoted the song of the late Hugh Masekela ‘Thuma Mina’.

He had earlier on announced that there was going to be minimum wage legislation in May this year which would reduce the gap between those who earn a lot of money and those that earn a little. Ramaphosa also said the free tertiary education would be introduced in baby steps as it would start with the first years of this academic year for students whose parents earn below R300 000.

What I noticed again is that Ramaphosa has the ability to be friendly to those who can harbor animosity to him and win them over. He showed that he is a serious administrator as sometimes he spoke like a stern school principal who wants nothing but the best for his students.

I say give that man a bells. Ramaphosa is the real Makoya. For a change there was no mischief from the red brigade as they also ate from Ramaphosa’s palm. Ndaaa.