Gwede Mantashe, national chairman of the ANC, believes the country should modify its approach to poverty, claiming that the government is unable of providing a solution on its own.
Mantashe stated that citizens must adjust their views regarding socioeconomic evils such as poverty. He contended that citizens had a responsibility to assist the government in reducing or perhaps eliminating poverty.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Ramaphosa On-Expansion Of Brics: “Africa Must Export Finished Goods”
“We must change the nature that society thinks it must be taken out of poverty, instead of working with government in digging itself out of poverty,” he said.
The ANC national chair spoke at a doorstop on the margins of the 15th Brics conference in Johannesburg, shortly after meeting with Brazilian President Lula da Silva and his delegation.
The parties met to discuss the ANC’s political links with Brazil’s ruling Workers’ Party, as well as other subjects of mutual concern. ANC officials, including Mantashe, attended the meeting to seek advice and input from Brazil’s experience tackling poverty and unemployment.
Mantashe stated that he believed it was critical to rethink the country’s framing in order to address societal concerns and urged for partnership with the state to do so.
“If you do not put their skin in the fire, it would not change the reality around you. We will only succeed if society participates in fighting poverty and other social ills,” he said.
Nomvula Mokonyane, the ANC’s first deputy secretary-general, commented on the meeting’s outcomes, saying that they sought to consolidate the historical relationship, particularly on party-to-party cooperation.
“We emphasised that the most important thing is to ensure that on a party-to-party level, we are able to shape what then becomes government’s programmes in terms of intervention,” she said.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Veteran Journalist Derek Watts Has Passed On
The DSG said Da Silva acknowledged the historical relationship his Workers’ Party has had with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), citing that it used to be one of the most vibrant federations of the trade union movement.
“I think out of that there is a responsibility on our side to strengthen the alliance and consolidate our working relationship.”
