By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced an imbizo will be held in Kagiso, west of Johannesburg this weekend following this week’s shutdown over illegal mining.
Ramaphosa delivered the closing address at the presidential social sector summit in Boksburg on Friday morning.
He said the imbizo is to address and interrogate issues of illegal mining and crime.
“As we address these incidents, we need to distinguish between legitimate protests and criminality, because unless we distinguish between the two we are going to loose what needs to be done and how it needs to be done.
“Yes, there are community concerns and grievances that needs to be addressed. Concerns that we should all have to prevent lose of life, destruction to property. This today, we also saw mob justice being played out.”
Illegal miners, commonly referred to as zama zamas, have been in the spotlight since the gang rape of eight women at a mine dump in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg.
On Thursday, disgruntled members of the local community in Kagiso took it upon themselves to hunt down miners without permits, sealing makeshift shafts and burning homes.
Ramaphosa told delegates South Africans are confronted by lawlessness, corruption, gender-based violence, and hunger.
He also told the summit that four years since he spoke of the need for this Social Sector Summit in his first State of the Nation Address, and after many months of preparation, it is wonderful that finally it has been able to convene.
“There were a number of factors that delayed the convening of this Summit, not least of which was the COVID-19 pandemic, the president said.
“With our country the world now in the process of recovery, Ramaphosa thanked civil society organisations for their role in the national effort to contain and overcome the pandemic.
“From the HIV/Aids pandemic to substance abuse, from poverty to illiteracy, from unemployment to gender-based violence, civil society has been crafting constructive strategies and driving collaborative approaches that put the needs of the poor first.”
“At the height of the HIV/Aids pandemic in in the late 1990s to mid-2000s, civil society movements waged a brave and principled struggle against stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV.”
Ramaphosa added, “It is unacceptable for the lion”s share of donor and other funding to be spent on paying senior staff or funding lifestyles, instead of programmes.
“Many civil society organisations are struggling to find money to keep their doors open, to pay their staff and to implement their programmes.”
“This Summit has provided an opportunity to hear more about these challenges and how they can be overcome.
“It has been an opportunity to hear more about work civil society organisations are doing in communities across the country, having taken stock of the reports that have come from all provinces through the Provincial Dialogues and roundtables.
The president added that the signing of the Social Sector Framework Agreement today is a milestone.
“We are establishing a more comprehensive and inclusive framework for collaboration that recognises, supports and empowers civil society.
“It sets the basis for us to foster a strong state-civil society partnership to tackle poverty, inequality and employment, and to deepen democratic participation.
Livestream Video Below:
Video Courtesy of ENCA.