Expert: New blueprint is not what South Africa needs

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Europe

‍By CGTN's World Insight

South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), elected Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday to be party president for the next five years, a role that President Jacob Zuma has filled for more than nine years.

His election has led to a rise in expectations for the nation’s transformation.

Interviewed on CGTN’s World Insight about some of the biggest problems that South Africa is now facing, Mzoxolo Mpolase, a political analyst who is the managing director of Political Analysis South Africa, said what the country really needs is better implementation.

“When South Africa had its period of Apartheid, it was easy to deliver basic access, electricity, basic healthcare, so the expectations now are much more solid, much more sophisticated,” he said.

Mpolase believes that whoever succeeds Jacob Zuma needs to acknowledge that and see how the government brings about aspects of good governance.

“Ultimately, I don’t think South Africa has got a lack of vision, we don’t need another blueprint of how South Africa’s future looks like, we just need better implementation and a better sense of commitment to serving the people who vote for these leaders, and ultimately that will address many of the problems that we have.”

He is seriously concerned about corruption which has risen to shocking levels over the past nine years, in addition to the race issue that still needs to be solved.

“I guess at some level, it’s also to reverse the growth of corruption and return to good basic governance principles and renew the social contract that was established at the end of the Apartheid that is about incorporating people who were excluded from participating in the economy, excluded from being part of mainstream society. That is the challenge.”

World Insight with Tian Wei is a 45-minute global affairs and debate show on CGTN. It airs weekdays at 10.15 p.m. BJT (1415GMT), with rebroadcasts at 4.15 a.m. BJT (2015GMT).

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