“We have big economic problems, big problems, very big problems,” Motlanthe said in an interview Saturday in the Drakensberg Mountains on the sidelines of a conference organized by this organization. The ANC must ‘interact differently with voters, not just make promises again’, but make sure people experience real change, if it’s to stay in power, he said.
Several opinion polls suggest the ANC is in danger of losing the absolute majority it has held since taking power in the country’s first multiracial elections in 1994, a backlash. once again from high levels of poverty and unemployment, record power outages and rampant corruption.
Motlanthe’s criticisms of the party are all the more acute in that he is one of the most respected veterans and head of the party’s election committee. He was appointed interim president in September 2008 after the ANC forced Thabo Mbeki to resign and held the post for seven months until new party leader Jacob Zuma took office.
Cyril Ramaphosa, who succeeded Zuma as ANC leader in December 2017 and served as president two months later, will seek a second term at the party’s electoral convention in two months.
Continuous changes in the party leadership are problematic because there is a risk that the government’s approach will become short-term oriented, according to Motlanthe. “Once every five years, you can have a new administration, new faces and some solutions, which can work in the next six or eight years,” Ms. Motlanthe said. head.
Other interview highlights:
The country’s energy crisis is “a major driver of productivity and therefore a very negative impact on the economy.” More renewable energy production capacity needs to be operated, power plants need proper maintenance, and the country needs to tap into its natural gas reserves.
“We can really create a new sector of the gas-based economy. If you say that every building has gas lighting, heating, and cooking, you’re creating real jobs by having people cross-link every building.
Logistics in South Africa relies too much on roads, which have already been subject to “heavy penalties”. High fuel prices are exacerbating already high inflation, which has eroded living standards and led to strikes
