Ramaphosa scolds ruling ANC for losing South Africans’ trust

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa scolded his ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Friday for losing the trust of South Africans, saying the party was weaker than at any time since it ended white minority rule in 1994.

In a sombre address to an ANC national policy conference in Johannesburg, Ramaphosa urged delegates to come up with ways to tackle the corruption, persistent poverty, unemployment and poor public services that he said had led to the party’s worst election result in history in last November’s local polls.

“The ANC today is its weakest and most vulnerable since the advent of democracy,” he said.

“Our weaknesses are evident in the distrust, the disillusionment, the frustration that is expressed by many people towards our movement and government.”

The party’s weaknesses were clearly reflected in its unprecedented failure to get more than 50% of the vote in the municipal polls, he said, but also in