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Mr. Ramaphosa has a businesslike style decidedly different from his predecessor
In view of the elections in South Africa in May, President Cyril Ramaphosa unveiled the manifesto of the African National Congress (ANC). Andrew Harding of the BBC unpacks the key themes of his speech.
President Ramaphosa entered a packed Moses Mabida stadium in the coastal town of Durban as a chief executive preparing for a board meeting. Do not dance. No song. He delivered the ANC manifesto speech with conviction, but without razzmatazz.
It was in stark contrast to his controversial predecessor, Jacob Zuma, who had been greeted by the local crowd with a nostalgic roar of approval a few minutes earlier.
But President Ramaphosa is betting that after a decade of chaos and mismanagement under Zuma – a man who is now facing a process of corruption and possible failure – the South Africans are overwhelmingly seeking expertise and honesty rather than great promises and rhetoric wild.
- Cyril Ramaphosa – South African trade union leader, mine chief, president
The ANC may not have taken an independent decision on that score, but if, as expected, it can lead to a pleasant victory in May – ideally, much more than the 53.9% that succeeded in the 2016 municipal elections – so his position and his chances of becoming a two-stroke president seem safe.
Hence a speech that – in tone and content – seemed, more often than not, like that of a CEO rather than a politician.
Politics of expropriation of the land
Perhaps you should not read too much about the length of each problem in a speech.
But agrarian reform – a controversial, emotional, deeply controversial issue that has often dominated the political debate in the last year – secured only 42 seconds in the 90-minute president's speech.
Yes, the South African constitution will probably be modified this year to explain the fact that the government can, under certain circumstances, expropriate the land, which is mostly held by white farmers, without compensation, but do not expect a revolution .
The cautious Ramaphosa knows it would be an economic disaster.
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The radical party of the EFF opposition has expropriated the land without compensation a key issue in the campaign
It is interesting to note that his paragraph on earth was preceded by a much longer one on another emotional issue, which he clearly believes will have more traction in the poor neighborhoods.
The president acclaimed when he promised to repress illegal traders "wherever they come".
The subtext was clear: the ANC understands the concerns of its electorate regarding the high levels of immigration and the tensions it creates in crowded and poor communities.
And here was a bigger political point.
The ANC, at times, seemed openly panicked by the threat posed by small parties, but radicals and populists like the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) with their speeches on nationalization and expropriation of land.
Mr. Ramaphosa does not seem to share panic.
His message to wavering voters is that the response to inequality and poverty must not be revolutionary.
Rather it is about enforcing existing laws, cleaning up civil service and supporting private companies in rural communities and townships. It is a message designed to attract the instinctively conservative electorate of South Africa.
Take a stand against rape
Ramaphosa talked about the corruption, the failures of the ANC and many other issues that the South Africans have heard their politicians promise to settle since democracy came here 25 years ago.
But sometimes it is important to move the debate, and Mr. Ramaphosa did this – to electrify – towards the end of his time on the podium, when he suddenly invited all male ANC supporters in the stadium to get back in. and make a commitment to fight against what the president has described twice as a national crisis.
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More than 40,000 cases of rape are reported every year in South Africa, most of the victims are women
He was talking about the extraordinarily high levels of rape and sexual violence against women in South Africa – a problem too often overshadowed here.
All the men in the stadium were all standing up. Mr Ramaphosa applauded them.
Gender violence in South Africa
- 1 woman in 5 is attacked by their partner
- More than 40,000 cases of rape are reported every year, most of the victims are women
- Feminicide in South Africa is 5 times higher than the global average
Source: 2009 Medical Research Council study; Stats SA Demographic and Health Survey 2016
Read more:
- Will I be next? South African women ask
- & # 39; My neighbor is a rapist & # 39;
It seemed like a rare and galvanizing moment for a factious and tired government party that often gives the impression – with its first row of familiar and aged faces – that it is short of ideas and steam.
Mr. Ramaphosa has repeatedly promised "a new dawn" for the South Africans. At that moment, he seemed to understand it and that his supporters believed it.
Job creation
Every year, ANC promises to create more jobs in a country that now boasts the highest levels of youth unemployment in the world.
The former president Zuma once promised to create five million jobs in a decade. He failed, but he accused that failure on the global recession and on a multitude of other factors.
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Providing jobs for young people remains the biggest challenge of the ANC
In Durban, President Ramaphosa has invented a new figure. 275,000 new jobs in the year – a significantly more modest pace.
But can – someone could – deliver?
"We have a plan," Mr. Ramaphosa insisted. And my impression is that many South Africans and many foreign investors seem inclined to believe him, or at least to give him the benefit of the doubt.
The president – a wealthy business man – spoke almost nerd enthusiastically about investment and infrastructure projects, reducing the cost of business, cutting red tape, improving broadband connectivity, and so on.
"After a period of doubt and uncertainty, we have come to a time of hope and renewal," he said, describing the ways in which his government has already begun to tackle corruption and strengthen state institutions that have been so severely weakened during the era of Mr. Zuma.
But if Mr. Ramaphosa is serious, and committed, and his party?
ANC feuding
Opinion polls suggest that the ruling party under Mr. Ramaphosa will ensure a comfortable victory in this year's election.
But the scale of the challenges facing South Africa is enormous, and there are many people in South Africa who wonder whether President Ramaphosa – conscientious, led by trials and moderated – and his party in fake fight against corruption can really change direction after so much time in power and implement his ambitious plans.
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The ANC is involved in a feud between the allies of the former president Zuma (C) and the president Ramaphosa (L)
Part of the speech made me reflect in particular on this.
The educational system of South Africa is failing in the country's youth.
Statistics repeatedly show that, despite a large budget for education, many students are abandoning or emerging with basic math and reading skills so poor that they are fundamentally unsuitable for the workplace.
Internet of Things and blockchain
The state of education is still another national crisis and, unless it is fixed, the data on South Africa's unemployment and its economy will surely continue to struggle.
But in his speech on the manifesto, Mr. Ramaphosa said little about how to get the basics of education – how to make sure teachers stay in class; how to engage with powerful teaching unions.
Instead, in a paragraph that seemed to have come from Davos, rather than reflecting the realities of a poor village like Diepsloot, Ramaphosa spoke of the 4th industrial revolution, blockchain, data analysis and the Internet of Things.
He was ambitious and impressive. But half of the country's youth are unemployed and more radical changes appear urgently needed.
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