ANC stalwart Pravin Gordhan has aired his concerns about the crumbling state of the ANC-led government, arguing that things haven’t changed 21 years into democracy.
The Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs said all the challenges besetting government, including poverty and unemployment, stemmed from the fact that the politics have changed.
“It’s no longer the politics of standing against something, now it’s about the tough task of building something,” he said.
Gordhan was speaking on Friday at the second annual lecture of anti-apartheid activist Mohammed “Chota” Motala at the Management College of SA.
Gordhan said setbacks were an indication that “we still live approximately where we lived in 1994 except for a few who have relocated to suburbs”. The political changes of 1994 didn’t solve all the problems that the country faced.
Gordhan said it was unfortunate “we still don’t know enough about each other, we don’t know about each other’s cultures enough, we don’t know each other’s language enough. In that sense we haven’t yet become the new South Africa.”
He said the current leaders, himself included, must reignite optimism and hope.
The party needed to show wise leadership and allow all South Africans to participate in nation building.
“We have to draw inspiration from people like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Walter Sisulu, Yusuf Dadoo, Monty Naicker and Chota Motala himself.”
A bone of contention was the underperforming public service, high level of disease, poor educational outcomes and high unemployment.
Gordhan said while the Freedom Charter in 1955 laid the foundation for the future, the Nation Development Plan set the vision for 2030.
The policy is aimed at tackling issues affecting people at all levels, he said.
Sunday Independent