Catastrophic, difficult and challenging is how President Cyril Ramaphosa has described his year.
Unemployment reached unprecedented levels (34.9% in the third quarter), about 300 people died during the riots and looting in July, and political control of key metros slipped away from his party, the ANC.
“All those things have combined just to create a catastrophic year, but nonetheless I am still standing and ready for the next round,” Ramaphosa said in Senegal during the last leg of his recent West African tour.
The president began 2021 on the back of unabating Covid-19 infections and an economy battered by hard lockdowns during 2020.
The devastation of Covid-19 was also personal for Ramaphosa in 2021. He lost some of his loyal colleagues in government, among them minister in the presidency Jackson Mthembu, who died from Covid-related ailments. This week the president himself tested positive for Covid-19.
Speaking from Senegal, he said: “It has been a very challenging year and difficult year. Covid-19 has been a huge challenge to all of us in the way that it has gone up and down, and given us respite and thereafter the infection rate has gone up.”
Another disaster struck in July when looting and violence erupted in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, allegedly in reaction to former president Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment.
Zuma had been sentenced to 15 months in jail for being in contempt of the Constitutional Court ordering him to testify at the commission of inquiry into state capture.
The government’s poor handling of the July riots forced Ramaphosa to reshuffle his cabinet while his trusted health minister, Zweli Mkhize, had no choice but to resign over the Digital Vibes scandal, one that involved alleged kickbacks.
The local government elections in November became another moment of gloom for Ramaphosa, with his party failing to win outright control of key metros in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni in Gauteng, eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal and Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape. This was despite the ANC using Ramaphosa as the face of the party’s campaign.
Despite the rollercoaster year, Ramaphosa said he was hopeful about what the new year held
“In the course of 2021 we have had an election campaign that was quite draining. The short time that we had to run an election campaign added to the challenges that we faced,” Ramaphosa said.
“But, all in all, having been a challenging year, we are still upstanding. I am still upstanding and ready for the next fight, the next challenge, and trying to do the best for the people of our country.”
Despite the rollercoaster year, Ramaphosa said he was hopeful about what the new year held.
“We will, in the state of the nation address — as we move on with the budget — be coming up with a number of proposals and strategies of how to address this catastrophe that is facing our country. We are working on a clear plan on addressing the low growth of the economy and creating more jobs.”
In response to the crisis of unemployment, Ramaphosa said that in the new year he would prioritise his economic structural reforms to stimulate job creation.
“Issues such as the spectrum, electricity and the ports, but at the same time there are other reforms which I have insisted we should work on that are going to open great opportunities for the small and medium enterprises to operate.”
Creating jobs for young people was another priority for Ramaphosa. “We want to support the private sector to be able to create more and more jobs, so a lot of processes are under consideration now,” he said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.