President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday described the various commissions of inquiry he has launched as cathartic, and suggested that while they conclude their work, the authorities should act on the revelations continuing to emerge.

“The truth is coming out. It’s a cathartic moment and the findings will be issued once the report comes out,” said Ramaphosa at an ANC public engagement in a Sandton office park.

“In the course of this whole process there are certain things that are coming out that are actionable. Those who have done things wrongly must be prosecuted,” he continued.

“There must be jail time. Accountability is at a great premium. We must be accountable for what we’ve done. It must be without any fear, without any bias, without any prejudice.”

The president described State Capture as a “debacle” that has taken hold of government, its institutions and other sectors of society.

The State Capture Inquiry and Public Investment Inquiry are both still ongoing while the SARS Inquiry concluded its work in 2019.

Ramaphosa was speaking at an engagement originally billed by the ANC as “a conversation with our white counterparts” and subsequently changed to “a bid to engage with all communities” in response to criticism.

The packed venue included many white people in the audience but the crowd was diverse and so were their questions.

ANC President Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa in an engagement with stakeholders at Sandton. (Photo by ANC via Twitter), Johannesburg, 4 April 2019.

Ramaphosa was asked about Amcu’s strike at Sibanye, how white South Africans can feel they belong, how he would remove red tape for entrepreneurs, and what can be done to get men to pay child maintenance.

Sandra Chapman, an importer, asked him in what circumstances his judgement was tested in a crisis.

Ramaphosa recalled former president Jacob Zuma’s decision to sack finance minister Pravin Gordhan in 2017 on the basis of an intelligence report, “which in my view did not amount to much”.

“The decision I then had to make was, do I keep quiet about something which I truly believe was incorrect? And then I broke ranks. I broke ranks with the president and spoke out,” said Ramaphosa.

“But that is now history behind us.”

The president acknowledged some of the country’s problems but said it was in a period of renewed hope and needed citizens to unite behind a common vision.

“Eskom is our current headache. Each time I wake up in the morning I get an SMS from the minister of public enterprises to tell me what the grid is looking like,” he said, endorsing Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan’s efforts to stabilise the power supply.

“I’d like to be in a situation where stage four load shedding never, ever, ever happens again to South Africans.”

Ramaphosa has personally been polling higher than the ANC and a report in March claimed the party’s internal polling put its support among white voters at least 8%, its highest ever, largely due to the president’s popularity.

When Gauteng Premier and provincial ANC chair David Makhura introduced the president, he spoke about supporting Ramaphosa, without mentioning the ANC.

“If you were to make a choice between leaving South Africa and making it work, I know that for many of you the choice would be making it work,” said Makhura.

“We need delicate hands, tried and tested leadership, and I have no doubt that whatever challenges we face, President Ramaphosa is made for this moment,” he continued.

A white audience member in the health food business said he didn’t feel at home in the country any more. He asked Ramaphosa, “What are you going to do to make us feel part of this community?”

The president responded, “I have understanding for that and am rather sad and sorry you feel like that, because this is the best country in the world.

“We have and we continue to seek to make South Africa a home to all of us where we can live freely, where we can live together and you just need to look back a little bit, back into our history, where this South Africa was a country that was made so uncomfortable for the majority of South Africans, where they were made to feel not at home in the country of their birth,” the president continued.

“In the past 25 years we have been seeking and forging unity and purpose amongst all South Africans, trying to get all South Africans to feel free. In some cases, we have made mistakes.”

Touching on the rainbowism of the Mandela era, Ramaphosa said there is now room for hope and space for unity. DM