“We cannot effect meaningful change if we become complacent, if we become comfortable with our own positions in the status quo.”
“We need to transform our rural areas, restore the land to its rightful owners, and significantly grow our agricultural output.”
“We must stop the division among us. We must stop factionalism. We must embrace unity; we must embrace working together, because if we are divided, we will not be able to win in 2020.”
“Violence against women and children resembles an epidemic. It has spread through society, sparing no social group or class.”
“Because of their marginalised position in the economy, the mass of the workers carry the burdens of society.”
“During the worst days of apartheid, we turned to the church for hope and courage as we fought a righteous struggle for a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist, just, and prosperous South Africa.”
“We’ve got to be moving together, working together, leading the country together, and ensuring that we achieve the objectives that our alliance has set out for itself.”
“There are times when leadership needs to take a bold move forward. And there are times when the leadership needs to act on the basis of what the grass roots say. You need to have your political thermometer constantly in the political waters to know when to give leadership in what way.”
“You can never have unity if you want things to go your way.”
“We must be humble and listen to the people who elected us to lead.”
“We are determined that expropriation without compensation should be implemented in a way that increases agricultural production, improves food security, and ensure that land is returned to those from who it was taken under colonialism and apartheid.”
“In working to end violence against women and children, we need to ensure that men are centrally involved. Men need to organise themselves in a sustained campaign against gender-based violence.”
“Our Vision 2030 remains the blueprint for inclusive growth, social cohesion, and prosperity for all. Under this plan, we will continue to develop skills that can help our country realise its developmental goals and address labour market issues.”
“The ANC must ensure that South Africa does not become a mafia state because once you reach that state, all the wheels have come off.”
“Young people must feel that they can be real actors in our economy and be creative and be imaginative and be innovative.”
“Leaders are meant to lead from the front, but at the same time, they are also meant to listen to what their followers are saying.”
“We have brave hearts and won’t retreat. We are not going back; we are going forward.”
“I will try to work very hard not to disappoint the people of South Africa.”
“We can make this country the garden of Eden.”
“We remain a highly unequal society in which poverty and prosperity are still defined by race as well as gender.”
“If we are to put a stop to corruption and state capture, those responsible must be brought to book.”
“We want to renew our vows with our people. We want to reconnect with our people. We want to get our people excited again.”
“New schools, hospitals, clinics, factories, bridges, dams, and airports tell the story of a South Africa that has indeed moved forward.”
“We must acknowledge that there are factions in our movements… We should not be telling lies to each other; we should tell the truth to each other with the view that there will be unity.”
“We want to clean up South Africa so that we can begin to make it more attractive to investors but at the same time to deal with the issues that are impeding growth.”
“I believe that our economy is not a one- or two-percent growth economy; I believe it can grow at four percent, and we can revitalize our economy if we do the right things.”
“We are determined to build a society defined by decency and integrity that does not tolerate the plunder of public resources nor the theft by corporate criminals of the hard-earned savings of ordinary people.”
“We aim to restore our focus on building an economy in which all South Africans can flourish, an economy which benefits the people as a whole rather than a privileged few.”
“We need to remind ourselves of the kind of society of which we have dreamed for so long, for which we have fought, and for which so many lost their lives.”
“If we are not honest, we are not going to be able to forge unity.”
“Issues to do with corruption, issues of how we can straighten out our state-owned enterprises, and how we deal with ‘state capture’ are issues that are on our radar screen.”
“We want to open spaces for young people to thrive in this economy, and that is why we said… when government buys commodities and services, we must have some set aside for young people.”
“We must again carry the burden of our people and shoulder our commitment to leading them to the promised land.”
“We are building a country where a person’s prospects are determined by their own initiative and hard work and not by the color of their skin, place of birth, gender, language, or income of their parents.”
“The expropriation of land without compensation should be among the mechanisms available to government to give effect to land reform and redistribution.”
“We must investigate without fear or favour the so-called ‘accounting irregularities’ that cause turmoil in the markets and wipe billions off the investments of ordinary South Africans.”
“Everyone has to be receptive to the decisions of the ANC because that is the political center. You have got to accept the decisions, and you also have to accept the direction that you are given by the ANC.”
“The country is yearning to put behind all these horrible things that have to do with corruption, state capture, behind us. The sooner these are all done, the better, because we want to move on; we want to move on to a better life.”
“Things such as corruption is a big thing in the ANC.”
“Land is a very broad as well as a complex issue, and it has to be handled very delicately because around land, there is quite a lot of emotion.”
“My campaign to become leader of the ANC was pivoted on two things: Renewing the ANC and taking back to the values the were espoused and subscribed to by Nelson Mandela, Oliver Thambo, and many other leaders.”
“To get education to sink deep into the minds of a nation takes a generation and more.”
“Marikana is a huge wake-up call.”
“Somewhere in the depths of my soul is the connection my father had with his cattle, the hills of Khalavha, and his people.”
“Apartheid was baked hard in the mining industry because that’s where it originated.”
“We will accelerate our land redistribution program not only to redress a grave historical injustice but also to bring more producers into the agricultural sector and to make more land available for cultivation.”
“I have not committed any crimes. I have not stolen any money. I have not looted state resources.”
“To those who have being stealing government money, it has to come to an end.”
“Climate change is a reality.”
“Nobody, no family, is above the law.”
“As members of the executive, we are accountable to Parliament.”
“It is not the function of the leader of government business to discipline members of the executive.”
“We have realized that corruption is rife, and we are going to address it. We are going to root out corruption, and that is a promise I can make.”
“No man is born believing that he has dominion over women. Instead, this view is handed down from generation to generation and amplified through social custom, culture, and popular media.”
“Tough decisions have to be made to close our fiscal gap, stabilise our debt, and restore our state-owned enterprises to health.”
“All our policies must be measured by the extent to which they contribute to job creation. Policies that do not create jobs – or that threaten jobs – must be reviewed and revised.”
“South Africa has not turned its back on human rights at all.”
“We are a nation that does not build walls. We do not believe in building walls. And that defines who we are. We are South Africans, and we do not subscribe to the building of walls.”
“We say South Africa is an open country, and when people come here, we must deal with them with dignity and respect within the parameters of our Constitution.”
“When courts rule in our country, we have them as the final arbiter on matters in which we might not agree on. And that is an important pillar of our democracy.”
“Whenever you go through the length and breadth of our country… you see a long face: you will see the long face of an African woman because she’s black, because she’s poor.”
“Corruption in state-owned enterprises and other public institutions has undermined our government’s programs to address poverty and unemployment.”
“As the ANC, we have got to condemn violence as a method of addressing our differences and disputes amongst us.”
“The expropriation of land without compensation is envisaged as one of the measures that we will use to accelerate redistribution of land to black South Africans.”
“In defence of Madiba’s legacy, we will continue to wage a relentless war on corruption and mismanagement of the resources of our country.”
“We are determined to rebuild the confidence of our people in public institutions and restore the credibility of those elected to serve them.”
“Some say the Constitution has robbed us of a proper land redistribution process. Others would want to look at other clauses. Well, it’s South Africa. Everything is transparent and open for debate.”
“We have to have a good look at the Constitution. Let’s determine where the shortcomings are. Then we can start talking of clauses.”
“We need to make sure that the ANC branches are strong, that they can lead the communities we live in.”
“We should draw deep into Madiba’s wisdom. We should draw deep into Madiba’s style of doing things in an orderly manner, in a purposeful manner, in a way where we focus.”
“We need to rid our State Owned Enterprises of corruption because the money being siphoned out should be funding them.”
“We have to build further on the collaboration with business and labor to restore confidence and prevent an investment downgrade.”
“We must not have an economy that discourages and chases away investors from investing in South Africa.”
“We should put behind us the era of diminishing trust in public institutions and weakened confidence in our country’s public leaders.”
“Land has been an issue of great concern to our people.”
“We will wash and clean the ANC, and it will be the ANC you know. The ANC that will work for the people.”
“South Africa must come first in everything we do.”
“We are going to seek to improve the lives of our people on an ongoing basis, and since 1994, we have done precisely that.”
“We need to work together as social partners to focus on our economy by removing all the obstacles to investment and move South Africa to a higher level of growth.”
“People must respect our movement.”
“I believe things that happen in the ANC family must be handled there.”
“Money has come to play a very bad role in the ANC; people’s votes are bought, and patronage has become the order of the day. All those deviant tendencies need to be curbed.”
“We must listen to the concerns of our people without dismissing them. When people see something wrong, there is something wrong. When our people see corruption, it means there is corruption. When our people see that their resources are being stolen by certain people, it means this is happening, and we should listen.”
“We have all the good policies, all right visions, but the problem is implementation. When we come out of national conference, we want those leaders we have chosen to be those who can implement policies.”
“We must be determined to get rid of factions within the ANC. We must get rid of divisions within the ANC.”
“We must be able to identify those who want divide our movement, and say, ‘Not in our name.’ We need to choose leaders that will not divide the ANC.”
“We need to mobilise our structures and our supporters to oppose state capture and corruption in whatever form it takes.”
“We now know, without any shred of uncertainty, that billions of rands of public resources have been diverted into the pockets of a few.”
“We are a big economy, and we must, therefore, show that we can manage it, but not only manage it, but that can transform it so that this economy works for all of our people so that everyone feels that they have a stake in this economy.”
“We want young people to come forward with bright ideas; we want the women and men in our country to have jobs.”
“When I was appointed deputy president, I accepted it, and it is the president’s prerogative to appoint or remove anyone to the Executive.”
“Free education for all – whilst it is a desirable notion, in South Africa it will simply not be affordable.”
“If you read the Freedom Charter carefully, you will find that – the clause that refers to education, and it says education must be free ‘on merit.’”
“It is important that South Africans of all political persuasions be represented in Parliament.”
“There is nothing wrong with students demanding free education, and, in fact, it is something that our children deserve.”
“What we want is for our young people to be skilled.”
“Students want free education because their parents are struggling. The fees of universities and technikons are too high.”
“The ANC will never die; it will live.”
“Marikana should not have happened. We are all to blame, and there are many stakeholders that should take the blame. But taking the blame should mean that we should make sure it never, ever, happens again.”
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