ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa concluded a five-day early election campaign in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday with community members, business and civil society relating their challenges with unemployment, crime and port, road and rail infrastructure.
His tour saw him attending events either as leader of the country or his party.
Ramaphosa was leading the party’s election campaign in Bhambanana, Jozini on Sunday where he held a closed meeting with party and traditional leaders from the area.
The area faces many challenges related to water supply and cross-border crimes, with Ramaphosa attending the official opening of the Bhekindoda Water Scheme.
During the presidential aspect of his visit, he opened the R300 million Nelson Mandela Cruise Terminal at the Port of Durban on Wednesday and did a helicopter trip around Richards Bay on Thursday to see first-hand the problems at Transnet and its impact – which has resulted in a backlog of trucks on the N2.
On Friday, Ramaphosa attended the official opening of the Dr Pixley Ka Seme Memorial Hospital in KwaMashu.
He said the opening reflects government’s commitment to “advancing the call made by the Freedom Charter for free medical care and hospitalisation to be provided for all, and for the health of women and children to be prioritised”.
“This facility has been built in response to the growing pressing healthcare needs of the approximately 1.5 million residents of KwaMashu, Inanda, Ntuzuma and the surrounding communities in northern Durban.
“It will relieve pressure on the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital and Addington Hospital, and will cater for inpatients at a regional level, with referrals from surrounding district level facilities,” Ramaphosa said.
Later on Friday, Ramaphosa spoke at the national conference of the SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) telling delegates that he is satisfied the government now knows it has the capacity to deal with the crippling stage 6 load shedding, and the unfolding Transnet crisis.
On Saturday, Ramaphosa participated in an ANC-organised #RaisingABoyChild Peace Walk on the Durban promenade and later went to uMzimkhulu, where he took part in a walkabout.
Later in the evening, Ramaphosa spoke at a stakeholder engagement session in Durban, saying the damage that had been done at the country’s port and rail operations as a result of inefficiency at Transnet was huge.
“Now we are attending to it. Yes, Durban is the main artery of our economy and we need to ensure it works perfectly.
“We are now getting into a mode where we are repairing the economy but of course load shedding has had a devastating impact which we will see in next year’s economic performance.”
He said that the combination of challenges with rail, ports, Eskom and the global economy had an impact on the country.
On unemployment, especially among the youth, Ramaphosa said the economy needs to create more jobs.
“The private sector creates up to 80% of the jobs in our country and the government plays its role and we are promoting investments so the young people that are getting trained should get into those positions.
“Many graduates remain unemployed and they are the ones that we are focusing on.”
He said government was opening up opportunities for young people to get into technical colleges “We are directing a lot of budget towards building TVET colleges and ensuring our young people get the skills that they require.”
He said government was seeking to address the unemployment crisis but there was a huge challenge as 7 million people were unemployed in the country.
The Mercury