Ramaphosa urges skilled South Africans to help tackle inequality

President Cyril Ramaphosa is calling on skilled and educated South Africans to play a greater role in tackling inequality and building an inclusive economy, saying government cannot do it alone.

Engaging professionals, academics and business leaders at Johannesburg City Hall, Ramaphosa said democracy had opened opportunities that were denied to the majority under apartheid, but warned that deep inequalities in education and economic opportunity persist.

He says South Africans who have acquired skills and expertise have a responsibility to help create opportunities, grow the economy and ensure that the benefits of democracy reach more people.

The ANC President, Cde Cyril Ramaphosa hosted a robust dialogue with the Middle Strata at Johannesburg City Hall.
The engagement brought together professionals, academics and business leaders for a dialogue on the future of local government and the role that the middle strata has to play in the journey of democracy.

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“We must ensure that we enrich our democracy and build institutions that will safeguard precisely what Kaija was saying here: ensuring that our democracy becomes a living democracy. We must adhere to the values of our democracy. More importantly, government must continue to create opportunities for all of us to succeed,” says Ramaphosa.

He says government must provide quality education and good healthcare.

“It must support enterprise development and protect vulnerable people in our country. It must also remove the barriers that prevent millions of our people from participating meaningfully in our country’s economy. However, the responsibility for building a prosperous, just and inclusive South Africa cannot rest on government alone. It must be shared by all South Africans, particularly those who have acquired education, skills, financial resources, professional standing and influence. They, too, must contribute. The responsibility to lift everyone up belongs to all of us,” he adds.

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