New leader, likely to become next president of South Africa, vows to expedite job creation and speed up land transfer to black people

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Cyril Ramaphosa, the new leader of South Africa’s governing ANC party, has said he aims to pursue a policy of “radical economic transformation” that will speed up expropriation of land without compensation and stamp out corruption.

Ramaphosa, a 65-year-old union leader who became a businessman and is now one of South Africa’s richest people, is likely to become the country’s next president after elections in 2019, because of his party’s electoral dominance.

In his maiden speech at the close of a five-day party meeting where he was elected, Ramaphosa said he would aim to expedite job creation, improve the lacklustre economy and speed up the transfer of land to black people.

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Two decades after the end of apartheid, the ANC is under pressure to redress racial disparities in land ownership where white people own most of the land.

“The expropriation of land without compensation should be among the mechanisms available to government to give effect to land reform and redistribution,” Ramaphosa said.

He said the land transfers would be speeded up under the radical economic transformation program, a vague ANC plan to tackle racial inequality. His promise to fight rampant corruption and revitalise the economy has been hailed by foreign investors.

“This conference has resolved that corruption must be fought with the same intensity and purpose that we fight poverty, unemployment and inequality,” Ramaphosa said in the early hours of Thursday after a long delay. “We must also act fearlessly against alleged corruption and abuse of office within our ranks.”

Ramaphosa, who is South Africa’s deputy president, was elected the new leader of the African National Congress (ANC) on Monday, succeeding Jacob Zuma as party head after Zuma’s presidency became tainted with corruption allegations.



Ramaphosa’s narrow victory over former cabinet minister and African Union Commission chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, 68, is seen as a pivotal moment for the ANC, which launched black-majority rule under Nelson Mandela’s leadership 23 years ago but is now deeply divided, with its image tarnished.

Ramaphosa paid tribute to Zuma in his speech, saying the ANC would be united despite a fractious campaign. Zuma had backed his ex-wife Dlamini-Zuma for ANC’s top job.

South Africa, the continent’s traditional powerhouse, has had lethargic growth over the last six years and the jobless rate stands near record levels.

Ramaphosa also had a warning for corporate executives. “We must investigate without fear or favour the so-called ‘accounting irregularities’ that cause turmoil in the markets and wipe billions off the investments of ordinary South Africans,” he said.

South African furniture retailer Steinhoff has been embroiled in a scandal over accounting irregularities, which have wiped more than $10bn (£7.5bn) off its market value over the past two weeks.