South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan reacts during a media briefing in Sandton near Johannesburg March 14, 2016. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

Home » Gordhan Says “Hope, Action and Principled Leadership” Will Improve South Africa

Gordhan Says “Hope, Action and Principled Leadership” Will Improve South Africa

CAPE TOWN – Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said today that the situation in South Africa is like a snooze button on an alarm clock. “The country has to wake up. The sleep is over,” he said. Speaking at the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation Heritage Day banquet, Gordhan also joked – in response to a joke made by […]

By SAPeople
25-09-16 00:45
in Fab South African Stuff
South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan reacts during a media briefing in Sandton near Johannesburg March 14, 2016. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

CAPE TOWN – Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said today that the situation in South Africa is like a snooze button on an alarm clock. “The country has to wake up. The sleep is over,” he said.

Speaking at the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation Heritage Day banquet, Gordhan also joked – in response to a joke made by the MC – that not all Indians come to South Africa to take billions out of the country, “just a handful”!

Gordhan said South Africa has made “remarkable strides” in the last 22 years, despite the current “noise”.

He also said Julius Malema is a good example of how new leaders will emerge as the country moves further from 1994 (a message which Malema was quick to retweet!).

Pravin said genuine transformation (“that famous word”) is to change the daily lives of ordinary people – it is not giving contracts to friends and family, and emphasised that the last thing South Africa can afford is growth that perpetuates inequality.

“Enough is enough. We do not want rot in our society,” he said. On Heritage Day today, he said we should re-dedicate ourselves to a heritage of resistance, and to fight poverty.

Pravin spoke of “affordable education and then gradually free education”, adding “there I’ve said it”.

The minister warned that although South Africa might be a very healthy democracy, we must insure that it is not hijacked by a few for their own interests.

He said “hope, action and principled leadership” will improve the quality of life of all citizens and dispel the dark clouds hovering over the country; and said every citizen is equal before the law – Hawks or no Hawks.

The Foundation’s Ahmed Kathrada, former African National Congress struggle stalwart, called on South Africans – through a video message – to use our differences in race and culture to unite us, not divide us.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, speaking at the national Heritage Day celebrations in Kimberley on Saturday, said Heritage Day is an opportunity to reflect on our complex past. (Read Deputy President Ramaphosa’s full Heritage Day speech here.)