We want to get rid of govt officials who steal and lie to us - Ramaphosa
7 March 2018
Cape Town - President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his commitment to removing government officials hindering service delivery.
"We want to get rid of bad things like corruption; people who steal money, people who waste our resources, who lie to us; who lie in top positions. We want to get rid of all those people," Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa was speaking to a group of locals who had joined him on a 6.2km walk from Khayelitsha to Mitchells Plain in Cape Town.
"There are many South Africans who are good, and we want to put them in good positions so that they can work for our people."
Wearing a T-shirt reading "Thuma mina" - which means "send me" and refers to the lyrics from a Hugh Masekela song which he quoted in his State of the Nation Address - Ramaphosa spoke to community workers and residents on his 90-minute early morning walk.
School safety
His walks are part of his bid to promote healthy living through a "walking revolution".
He said he had met young people who lamented that their schools were not safe, and he promised to discuss it with the ministers of basic education and police.
He also said he wanted to see communities get rid of drugs, gangsterism and criminality.
Ramaphosa promised his administration was going to move SA forward "in a big way" and would concentrate on employment opportunities.
"Our people, each time we meet them, say: 'Help us with jobs.' Now we are going to be working to attract more and more investment. The good thing you saw yesterday is our economy has shown signs of growing. That is very positive. Confidence is coming back to our country."
The walk started at Lookout Hill and ended at the Rocklands Civic Centre, where the United Democratic Front was launched in 1983.
