The people who broke the system can never be trusted to fix the very same system that broke it.
These were some of the sentiments shared by Rise Mzansi chairperson and Gauteng premier candidate Vuyiswa Ramokgopa, during her address at The Star’s Political Dialogue held at the Johannesburg Theatre earlier today.
Ramokgopa emphasised that despite the nation commemorating 30 years of democracy, a stark reality persists: for 70% of young people, the promise of democracy remains unfelt as they grapple with unemployment, languishing at home, disillusioned, and succumbing to alcohol abuse.
That democracy had not been felt either, she said, by the millions of women who suffer under the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide in the country on a daily basis, as well as the 26% of children under the age of five afflicted by stunting due to insufficient access to food.
If South Africa is to have any hope of reclaiming the dream of the country’s former leaders, Ramokgopa said the only choice people had was to go to the polls and elect new leaders come May 29.
“The only choice we have is to elect new leaders who can ensure a safe, prosperous, equal and united South Africa. Rise Mzansi is a social democratic Party that believes that to end inequality and progress in society we must begin with capable and ethical leadership who can recapacitate our state and ensure we actually deliver services for our people.
“The role of any government in principle above all else is to keep its people safe and ensure the prosperity and wellbeing of its people and this government is failing dismally at that. We need to elect new leaders, because the people who broke the system can never be trusted to fix the system they broke,” she said.
Ramokgopa said new leaders were necessary because the people who had presided over public positions for the past 30 years, and not just the ANC but other parties, and the political establishment in the country as a whole was flawed.
“There are people who have presided over the dysfunction of the country, and now they want us to believe that because they’re wearing a different T-shirt that are bringing change and that will not happen.”
The Star