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South Africa: Assertive Zuma Assures Poor White Afrikaners
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Business Day (Johannesburg)
25 July 2008
Posted to the web 25 July 2008
Sibongakonke Shoba
Johannesburg
AFRICAN National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma yesterday showed who is in charge.
He took with him Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya and Tshwane mayor Gwen Ramokgopa to listen to the grievances of about 1000 poor white Afrikaners at Bethlehem informal settlement, west of Pretoria.
Zuma told the crowd he would make sure the minister and the mayor attended to their grievances as they would have to report to him as president of the ruling party. "I'll be asking them what's happening. They'll have to report. I can give them instructions."
This confirmed many political commentators' assessment that power had shifted from the Union Buildings to Luthuli House, where Zuma is boss.
Zuma was making his second visit to the area. He visited it earlier this year with trade union Solidarity and promised to come back.
The ANC chief got a warm welcome from the crowd, and as usual wasted no time in telling them what they wanted to hear. He said poverty had no colour, and no race group should be discriminated against in accessing state services. "Every South African has a right to the services of the country. No South African must be excluded."
Zuma won the hearts of the crowd, and many said he was more approachable than President Thabo Mbeki. Settlement resident Bessie Rademeyer said Zuma had restored hope that things would improve. "I'm sure that we will soon have electricity in this area."
Rademeyer said she wanted Zuma to become the next president of SA. "We will all vote for him," she said.
Others said Zuma was a strong leader who was in touch with the problems of poor citizens. "He is not overseas every day like Mbeki," said a resident who refused to be named.
"The only time we see Mbeki is in Parliament, when he talks about 'business unusual'. What is that? We don't know that," said the resident.
Social development officials were kept busy as a number of people registered for social grants at the event. Skweyiya promised his department's officials would return to register more people. He also promised to contact the home affairs department to send its officials to the area today or next week. "We will make sure that each and every one who is entitled to a grant will get it. If there is a need to come back, we will."
Ramokgopa promised residents the council would provide a mobile clinic. She said that installing electricity in the area would not be difficult.
The mayor promised to return to the area after meeting the local councillor, ward committee and nongovernmental organisations.
Solidarity general secretary Flip Buys handed Zuma a report on white poverty . Buys said no one talked about white poverty, and no one had wanted to act against the problem before.
Solidarity was "very glad" doors had been opened and poor whites would be able to access services.
Zuma told reporters that these types of interactions would not stop when the new ANC leadership came to power next year. He said he would not criticise the government for failing to reach some areas as SA was a big country.
"It is a question of how much we are able to reach every corner of the country ... It says we must look everywhere," he said.
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The government could not solve problems overnight.
All South Africans etc.etc. 1st time I heard this kind of stuff since Mandela,sounds good,obviously going for the white vote,but on moral grounds it is unaceptable from JZ. He has been involved with the govt.since the start of ANC.rule and only now (after about +-15yrs realises there is such a thing as a "poor white".)The mindset all black South Africans are poor,all white South Africans are rich,is in fact common to the majority in SA.
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