‘We dare not fail you’: Ramathuba insists ANC still honouring Madiba’s legacy
· Citizen
Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba is adamant that the ANC has not betrayed the legacy of former president Nelson Mandela.
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The premier was speaking at the Limpopo ANC’s Mandela Legacy Rally at the Makwerela Stadium in Thohoyandou on Saturday.
The event was roughly 8kms away from where the EFF was simultaneously holding its manifesto launch and 13th birthday celebration at Thohoyandou Stadium.
‘No way’ ANC is failing Mandela
Ramathuba evoked Mandela’s oft-repeated suggestion that voters should abandon the ANC if it failed the people of South Africa.
In 1993, Mandela warned that “if the ANC does to you what the apartheid government did to you, then you must do to the ANC what you did to the apartheid government”.
Finance minister Enoch Godongwana was in attendance, with the premier taking the opportunity to boast about a water project completed ahead of time and under budget.
A water purification and communal tap project was this week handed over to the community of Ga-Phasha, six months ahead of schedule and R10 million cheaper than its R42 million budget.
Ramathuba said this and other infrastructure projects in the province were proof that the ANC had not yet met the criteria to consider Mandela’s warning.
“There’s no way in Limpopo you can say we are doing to you what the apartheid government [did] to you. Where the rot is happening, we are the first one to correct.
“As long as people are still poor, as long as our children are still struggling to pay their fees, as long as our young people are still graduating without jobs, as long as we have not yet transformed our economy – not a jobless economy, but an economy that produces jobs – Madiba, we are still going to make sure we dare not fail you,” said Ramathuba.
‘You cannot compete with us’
The ANC received 74.23% of the votes in Limpopo during the 2024 national government election, the highest level of support for the party in any province and well ahead of the EFF in second place with 12.97%.
Godongwana threw his weight behind the provincial executive, urging them to prioritise growth and construction.
“Our challenge over the next years is to shift the composition of expenditure towards growing this economy and infrastructure development.
“To fix local government will require leadership that is up to game. The leadership in municipalities must help us, and conform, and make sure we can achieve this service delivery. That is where it matters most,” said Godongwana.
Ramathuba noted the institutional age of the ANC, reminding supporters and detractors that it had overcome a multitude of challenges in its time.
“We are celebrating 114 years – tried and tested. You cannot compete with us. We have seen it all. We have fixed where we were struggling. We are still fixing, that’s why are under renewal,” the premier said.