SA Jewry warmly embraces Ramaphosa’s Thuma Mina call
The South Africa Jewish community embraces President Cyril Ramaphosa's Thuma Mina call.
The South Africa Jewish community has warmly embraced President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Thuma Mina (send me) call.
“We want to assure you today Mr President that as the SA Jewry we are ready, ready to be sent on whatever mission and task you may desire us to do for you as you endeavour to renew our value systems as a nation that has been eroded under your predecessor,” said Mary Kluk, national president of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies and speaking at its conference which was attended by Ramaphosa.
Kluk said the message that came out of the deliberations of the annual Jewish conference at The Galleria in Kramerville was that the Thuma Mina concept, as enunciated by Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address and taken from the lyrics of one of the songs by the late Hugh Masekela, was a rallying call for all to stand up and be counted in the renewal of the value systems of the country.
“I urge you Mr President to Thuma Nathi [send us as well] from the Jewish community on whatever tasks you deem fit for us to perform in your quest to renew our moral values as a nation. We’re ready and waiting to receive the orders for the errands we need to perform.”
In reply, Ramaphosa said, “We count on the support of the Jewish community to join the fight to rid ourselves of this new evil that has crept into our midst, just as you stood up and joined the fight against the evil policies of the apartheid regime. The victory over apartheid can be attributed to the contributions made by the Jewish community.”
He assured attendees and the nation that his fight against corruption and state capture would soon yield the desired results. “I would like to assure the nation that South Africa will soon be corruption-free. That day will certainly come.”
In response to a question from conference facilitator Stephen Koseff, one of the founders and CEO of Investec, Ramaphosa said the new administration was ‘shocked and horrified’ when they took over the reins and opened a Pandora’s box to discover the extent of the damage that state capture had caused during the previous administration.
“All institutions of the state had gone off the rails in that period and the mandate I was given at the [Nasrec ANC] conference was to work with all and sundry towards revitalising and uniting the party and also to get government and its institutions back on the rails,” Ramaphosa conclude.
