Addressing the North West Chamber of Commerce conference on Saturday, Ramaphosa said education and upskilling of the people of South Africa was vital if the country was to turn around its current economic situation. The ANC in the North West on Friday said its provincial executive committee (PEC) and its officials were not part of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa's planned visit to the province.

People greatest asset

Ramaphosa said the current skills in the country were not sufficient to drive the economy forward, and the current education system was largely at fault.

“We need to be asking ourselves what needs to be done to unlock the energy that should be inherent in our economy to make it move forward again.”

“We have a great asset, 55 million people. 55 million people who are by definition economic activists,” he said.

Ramaphosa said people who had skills, who had the know-how and who were well trained, became better economic activists as they were better equipped to secure employment or even start their own businesses.

Corruption SOEs downfall

The deputy president said there was also significant interference and corruption within state owned entities.

“We need to rid our State Owned Enterprises of corruption because the money being siphoned out should be funding them,” he said.

“We must restructure, realign, so that they become the pride of the nation, not the shame of our nation,” he said.

Ramaphosa is currently one of the forerunners in the presidential campaign as a potential successor to President Jacob Zuma, who is due to step down as ANC leader at the party's elective conference in December and as national president in 2019. Ramaphosa has been endorsed by Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng. 

His closest rivals include Treasurer General Zweli Mkhize, who has emerged with strong support in recent weeks, having won support in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga - two eastern provinces with the biggest number of ANC members. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the former chairperson of the African Union Commission and the president's ex-wife, is seen as Zuma's preferred candidate for the top post.

News24