'There is going to be urgency,' says Ramaphosa about his second term

President Cyril Ramaphosa says there is going to be “urgency” to address South Africa's problems during his second term.

“There is going to be urgency. There is going to be action-orientated processes to implement things and to get things moving,” he told media on Monday.

Ramaphosa was responding to a question about his plans and the legacy he wants to leave at the end of his second term.

The mandate from the ANC's 55th national conference was clear. Six priority areas were identified “and that is going to be my area of focus and to get the right people to do the right jobs”.

“It is part of the professionalisation. It cascades down and affects the public service, and to get people to do the heavy lifting as I am prepared to do the heavy lifting myself.”

Ramaphosa has been criticised for being “indecisive” and taking too long to act.

He was re-elected ANC president with a big mandate last month.

He dismissed reports that he wanted to resign after the section 89 panel’s report in November. The panel found he may have a prima facie case to answer about the robbery at his game farm.

“Was there ever a time you felt ‘I’m done with this, I want to go back to business’?" he was asked.

“I’ve been elected president, that’s my job, that’s my day job. You are stuck with me,” he responded.

Renewing the ANC and making it a vehicle to effectively address the needs of the people was key.

Ramaphosa said load-shedding keeps him awake. “We need to address that and it is urgent.”

Unemployment and crime also needed to be urgently addressed,, while attracting investment was another challenge.

Ramaphosa said industrial policy would have to be revamped and aligned with South Africa's challenges.

“That is a process that is also going to have to be focused on because to get moving on our economic fortunes we need to have an industrial policy that will respond, for example, to our trade and economic position in Africa as backed up by the African continental free trade area. We need to get those two aligned.

“The ambition is there, the resolve is there, and because of the economic challenges we face, we are going to move quite dramatically on those. And I would say, watch this space,” Ramaphosa said.

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