Defence Minister Thandi Modise says the results of this week’s local government elections are evidence that the population has run out of patience with the government of the day and that the government should prioritise the needs of the poor.
Modise made these remarks while delivering the Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair Founders Lecture in Pretoria on Thursday night.
Hosted by the University of South Africa (Unisa), the lecture took place under the theme “Let my people go”: Reflecting critically on Chief Albert Luthuli’s varied legacies”.
Luthuli was President-General of the African National Congress (ANC) from December 1952 until his death in 1967. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961.
Modise said the Nobel Peace Prize winner put the people’s needs ahead of his and that the ANC-led government can best honour him by serving the poor diligently.
“I may have not done justice to the lecture, but what we needed to reflect on, especially after the local government elections, was to really do an introspection as the descendants of Luthuli.
“We must ensure that whatever it is that is collected for the poor goes to the poor. Because 10 years from now we can’t be looking at kids who will be born, who will still be surviving on grants. We need to do something, and we need to do that something fast,” Modise said.
After the lecture political analysts, Eusebius Mckaiser, engaged in a question and answer session with Professor Tinyiko Maluleke who explored, among other topics, the impact of social justice the country was still dealing with.
Modise also emphasised the need for the public to get value for money from the government.
