One could say President Cyril Ramaphosa did a dry run and he has shown that he is a leader par excellence who is committed to building the Republic of South Africa. He is working hard to take South Africa, our beautiful country, to greater heights and bring back the glory days. He is correct when he said:

“The task of building a better South Africa is our collective responsibility as a nation, as the people of South Africa.”

We need to be patriotic at all times and love our beautiful country. This can’t be only the government’s responsibility; we need to be active citizens at all times.

South Africans should give the ANC a chance under the leadership of President Ramaphosa going into the national elections, as he is showing the political will to make sure we build our country. Under his leadership, we can all see the economy is growing and that he has boosted investor confidence. The economy cannot grow if investors don’t come on board. Since he was deployed by the ANC in 2018 as the president of the country, we have seen the work he has done internationally and domestically to restore the image of the country. South Africa now has a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

We need to reflect on the 2018 State of the Nation Address. A lot has been done under his leadership, based on what the ANC had promised the people of South Africa after the ANC NEC January 8 Statement. This is a clear sign that the ANC-led government has been working hard to ensure that the people of this country have a better life. The government has even made sure that young people who enter the job market are not required to have work experience — responding to a call made by the ANC Youth League.

When the women of South Africa under the #TotalShutdown movement marched to the Union Buildings in protest against gender-based violence and demanded to give the memorandum to the president, he stopped everything and went to the Union Buildings to listen. President Ramaphosa committed to government hosting a gender-based violence summit before the end of 2018, and indeed the summit was hosted. Work continues to be done by the ANC-led government to fight gender-based violence. President Ramaphosa is a man of action who implements everything he commits too.

In 2018 the president hosted the jobs and investors summit to ensure that more jobs are created in South Africa. We are all aware that the youth unemployment rate is too high. The government cannot create jobs on its own and needs investment in the country for jobs to be created. When you go to townships and rural areas during the week, you might think it is a weekend, looking at the number of young people that are unemployed. It is good to see that President Ramaphosa is taking youth unemployment seriously, as we are a youthful country. Under his leadership he launched the Youth Employment Service initiative in 2018.

South Africans need to give the ANC another mandate in making sure more good work is done under the leadership of President Ramaphosa, as Parliament will be dissolved soon. The ANC must also learn lessons from past mistakes and make sure it puts the people of South Africa first. Its deployed cadres must understand what they are expected to do to change the lives of the people of South Africa for the better.

The ANC must always humble itself, as you can’t serve people when you are arrogant. We must always remember the words of Che Guevara:

“The true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality.”

A true revolutionary knows and understands that the people come first at all times.

Thank you, Mr President, for your commitment to the people of South Africa and for uniting us as a nation towards working together and emphasising the importance of being active citizens. DM

Rebone Tau is former ANCYL National Task Team International Relations Chair. She writes in her personal capacity.