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Ramaphosa's first 100 days: DA says the president 'tap danced' around land reform

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Ramaphosa's first 100 days: DA says the president 'tap danced' around land reform

President Cyril Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa

21st May 2018

By: News24Wire

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The Democratic Alliance (DA) has criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa after his first 100 days in office, saying he has "tap danced" around the issue of land reform and challenging him to make an "about-turn".

"The story of land reform in this country is one of utter failure of the ANC [African National Congress] government," DA leader Mmusi Maimane said at the party's new headquarters in Bruma, Johannesburg.

Maimane added that, despite the issue of land reform being used as part of the ANC's election campaign, in reality, the issue has not been addressed.

"The core argument is that compensation has not been the major stumbling block. The ANC must address the systematic issues from lack of political will, corruption and elite capture to lack of capacity, budgeting and post settlement support," Maimane said.

"ANC land reform programmes have continued to champion state custodianship, which doesn’t expand black ownership of land and is an injustice to people deserving of the land they have been deprived of."

The DA leader said it was easy to give Ramaphosa a good rating for his first 100 days in office because, when he took over, the country "was in a state of political and institutional turmoil".

"Indeed, the bar was set pitifully low by former president Jacob Zuma. However, we must not forget that President Ramaphosa also had a role to play in the turmoil he eventually inherited," Maimane said.

He explained that Ramaphosa served as Zuma’s deputy for four years and provided support and "displayed solidarity" for and with the former president.

"President Ramaphosa is governing on a fragile, compromised mandate and therefore will never be able to effect total change that will turn our nation around, eradicate corruption, create millions of jobs, make our country safe, and fix our broken education system," he said.

Maimane also criticised Ramaphosa for keeping "compromised and incompetent" ministers, such as Malusi Gigaba, Nomvula Mokonyane, Bathabile Dlamini, Aaron Motsoaledi and Angie Motshekga, in his Cabinet.

The DA’s chief whip in Parliament John Steenhuisen, said South Africa’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) had been a constant strain on the economy and the national fiscus.

"Not only were SOEs the fertile soil whereby billions were stolen from our country via state capture, but the overwhelming majority of SOEs are inefficient, loss-making entities which need large scale reform," he said.

Steenhuisen said the process of splitting Eskom into a generation entity, which would be privatised, and a transmission entity should begin. This, while ensuring the stability of Prasa and merging SAA, SA Express and Mango with a view to selling off "the ailing airline".

On the issue of policing, he said Ramaphosa inherited a police service that was "chronically" under-resourced, under-staffed, under-equipped and under-trained.

"Crime is rampant and out of control in South Africa and the police are simply unable to reduce crime and ensure that our country is safe," he said.

Steenhuisen said the DA called on Ramaphosa to ensure lifestyle audits were done on all senior police officers, that the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) was beefed up and that an audit was conducted on all station-level resourcing issues.
 

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