Johannesburg - Thousands of ANC supporters converged at Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto for the 2019 ANC Manifesto Review, where President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his keynote address.
Ramaphosa said that over the next two months, they would be taking the manifesto review process to different parts of the country, engaging communities in cities, towns, villages, factories, farms, and places of work.
He touched on various essential subjects, including National Health Insurance (NHI), sanitation, eradicating bucket toilets, fighting corruption, and promoting integrity.
"The NHI Bill is currently being piloted. We are going to have national health insurance whether they like it or not," he said.
The party recounted some of its implementations that have assisted in shaping livelihoods across the country. In the previous five years, the ANC had collaborated with labour, business, and civil society to tackle the enduring task of developing and expanding an economy that benefits all South Africans, not just a selected few, it claimed.
"To enhance social support, combat poverty, and assist vulnerable populations, the recipients of social grants grew from three million in 1994 to 18 million in 2019, benefiting children, the elderly, individuals with disabilities, and veterans.
"Between 1994 and 2019, we built 3.2 million free houses. Fifteen years of mandatory education, coupled with free schooling for those in need and daily meals for more than 9 million students, have seen nearly 100% attendance by South African children at educational institutions until at least the age of 15," he said.
He further claimed that the party had introduced and developed a constitution, policies, laws, and programmes that seek to unite and build a better life for South Africans.
"Today, millions of people have houses; people have electricity, and we will talk about that. They have water. The most basic needs that our people never had in the past, they now have. The commitments that we made in 2019 revolved around seven issues. The first one was that we will transform our economy to serve our people.
“The second was that we would advance social transformation. The third was that we would build safer communities, and the fourth was that we would fight corruption and promote integrity. The fifth one was that we would strengthen government and public institutions. The sixth one was that we would build unity and embrace diversity. And the seventh one was to build a better Africa and a better world.
"As we present this review, we say that we want to be as transparent as possible. Where we have made mistakes, we want to admit those," said Ramaphosa.
He further said that there is no political party that embarks on such a consultation process as they do.
The Star