Funds “stolen” from state-owned enterprises (SoEs) must be returned to the people, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday.
"We demand that stolen funds from SoEs be returned so that they can be reinvested in projects to build our country,” Ramaphosa told hundreds of ANC supporters in Jozini in Northern KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday afternoon.
South Africa needed "fully functional” SoEs that were well managed, he said, after being introduced earlier by former KwaZulu-Natal premier and former ANC provincial chairman Senzo Mchunu.
“Those who manage the SoEs must know they are managing the wealth of the nation, the collective wealth of the people of South Africa.
"When that happens we will be able to say that the state-owned enterprises are a key driver of the economic growth of our country.
“We want the best brains to be running our SoEs. We want the best managers to be running our SoEs, and we want to bring an end to corruption that is taking place in our SoEs,” he said.
Turning to transformation in the private sector, Ramaphosa said change was necessary so that South Africans could be owners of the economy instead of “just labourers and bystanders”.
South Africa could not continue to have an economy that "only served the interests of the minority", he said.
“We want our economy to be transformed and we are calling on everyone who is a player in this economy to make sure that they take steps to broaden the economic ownership of their entities, to make sure that people are not only economically active, but are owners of the economy of our country.”
Workers needed to be treated well, and given decent jobs and the best employment conditions. It was also important to attract investors to the country, and this could be done if the governing African National Congress remained strong, which would allow it to achieve high levels of growth and stability, he said.
“If the ANC is not strong, we will not be able to achieve high levels of economic growth, because a strong ANC is going to make sure that there is stability in our economy, a strong ANC is going to manage the economy properly, and it is going to ensure that investors come to South Africa.”
On next month’s ANC national elective conference, Ramaphosa said voting delegates should attend with the view of reviving, renewing, and rebuilding the party.
“Let’s make the ANC powerful once more and make our glorious movement more powerful, determined and prepared to serve the interests of our people,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Ramaphosa visited Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu at his King Osuthu Royal Palace, where he presented the king with one of his African long-horned cattle and received a battle shield in return.