Chronicle Editor
If President Cyril Ramaphosa had his way, he would tie young white South Africans to trees.
This was his tongue-in-cheek comment as he urged young white South Africans to not leave the country.
The president’s campaign trail stopped in the Beyerskloof wine estate outside Stellenbosch on Tuesday afternoon.
Several of the assembled farmers and businessmen were allowed to ask Ramaphosa questions through Beyers Truter, farm co-owner and winemaker, who acted as an MC.
Ramaphosa, who mentioned more than once that he was a farmer himself, was well received.
President Cyril Ramaphosa unveiled two new trains at Cape Town Station as part of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (PRASA) efforts to improve commuter services.
Truter said he believed the lord anointed kings and presidents, and he believed God anointed Ramaphosa. Grape farmer Chris Steenkamp said: “Everyone here likes you, everyone here trusts you.”
He said they’ve known Ramaphosa since the days of Codesa and Ramaphosa looked at him with a serious expression and nodded.
“Without you as president, we’re lost. Your success is our success.”
“We’re praying for you every day,” said Jan Morgan of Morgan Beef. “You’ve got a really tough job.”
In one of the questions posed, Ramaphosa was asked whether white people had a future in the country.
“This is the South Africa that should deliver a better life for all of us,” Ramaphosa said.
He said he wants the South Africans in the diaspora to come back home and contribute to growing South Africa.
“I don’t want young white South Africans to leave the country. If I could, I would tie them to a tree,” he said as he smiled.
He added that the feeling that they were not wanted in the country was simply not true.
“There is room for all of us to play a role.”
Ramaphosa also said the defining quality of South Africans was their ability to work together.
“Join me in making this great country of ours great again,” he said, echoing Donald Trump’s famous slogan emblazoned on red caps.
In a reception hall, where there were pictures of wine bottles and a vineyard turning a dark autumnal red, Ramaphosa said he believed the glass was not half empty, but half full for South Africa.
“Our task is, how do we fill that glass,” Ramaphosa said.
He admitted that the ANC government of the past 25 years had made mistakes and that some of those mistakes led to corruption.
While the farmers and businessmen listened in respectful silence, they applauded when he said they were determined to rid the country of corruption. He said those implicated in corruption should go to where they belong.
“And that is jail,” he said, again to applause.
– Seventeen people were arrested in Blackheath, Cape Town on public violence charges in the Happy Valley area, after a thousand people had taken to the streets to protest against poor service delivery.
Protests have taken place in the Happy Valley community since Monday. Yesterday, police confirmed the arrest of 15 men and two women for allegedly throwing petrol bombs.
“Public order police and law enforcement agencies are monitoring the protest that is underway in Happy Valley where a group of 1 000 people are participating in a service delivery protest,” police spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana said.
Police would remain on the scene until law and order was restored, Rwexana confirmed.
Earlier yesterday, the City of Cape Town’s traffic spokesperson Richard Coleman said the protest resulted in road closures.
“Two roads in Blackheath are closed and affected roads include Wimbledon Street, which is closed on both sides between Buttskop Road and School Street,” said Coleman.
Coleman further said businesses in the area are not accessible and transport services have been affected. Several commuters have been stranded as a result.
“MyCity and Golden Arrow buses are not able to leave the depots,” Coleman said.
On Monday, iOL reported that the Blackheath Industrial Area came to a standstill when residents blocked roads with burning tyres.
– News24
Online Reporter