President Cyril Ramaphosa said there was nothing sinister in his government having discussions with a variety of people linked to US President Donald Trump.
Image: Supplied/GCIS
President Cyril Ramaphosa says expelled South African ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasool, will provide a full report to him on the circumstances surrounding his expulsion.
Ramaphosa was speaking with the media after delivering the keynote address at the Bana Pele Early Childhood Development (ECD) Leadership Summit in Braamfontein, Gauteng.
”Ebrahim Rasool will be coming back soon after the US State Department has ruled that he is no longer acceptable in the US,” Ramaphosa said.
“He is going to come back and give me a full report. So, I will wait for a full report from him.”
Ramaphosa said he noted the displeasure that has been expressed by the US, particularly over Rasool’s remarks, and emphasised that South Africa is engaged in ongoing discussions with the US.
"The engagement with them continues and is going to take a variety of forms. It's going to be through envoys. It's going to be through people either from the business community, labour, and a whole number of others, including from the government.”
Improving the country’s relationship with the US is a priority for the South African government, he noted, given the US as the second largest trading partner after China.
“We will therefore seek to ensure that our relations are on a good footing, which is one thing that we do with all countries in the world,” he said.
Ramaphosa acknowledged that international relations sometimes go through ups and downs but stressed the importance of addressing the challenges and resolving differences.
“As they go through their ups and downs, the responsible thing to do by any nation is to make sure that you deal with the challenges that there are, you straighten out the difficulties,” he said.
“We have always found that when there are such challenges and we engage, we do find solutions. This is precisely what we are now going to do.”
“This is our job and responsibility as a government to advance the interests of our country, as well as the interests of the people of South Africa.”
Earlier, Ramaphosa said that with a R10 billion budget allocation for ECD initiatives, South Africa will leave no child behind in ensuring universal access to the model.
Last week, during his budget speech, Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana allocated R10 billion towards ECD while also allocating an additional R19.1 billion to ensure teachers remain in classrooms.
Ramaphosa admitted that the South African government erred when it failed to take ECD seriously.
"Starting early as a nation and as parents for early learning is our ultimate focus and most powerful lever we have and investing in ECD is not only about learning but about shaping the future of children who will help drive our future forward. We know this because children are sponges and are always ready to suck in as much knowledge as possible and this has the potential to help us break the cycle of poverty," he said.
“We welcome this initiative by government and civil society to work together to shape the future of ECD. I believe this is the most important as we stop talking about politics and other things."
Basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube said the figures indicate that South Africa, home to at least 7 million children aged 0-5 years, representing the country's future leaders, innovators, and change-makers, has more than more than 1.3 million children not enrolled in any form of ECD programme.
"About 1,3 million children are not enrolled in any ECD training programme—impacting their future in key subjects like Maths, Science, and Economics. Most of them are from poor communities. This unequal access to quality education means that we are deeply entrenching the inequalities that have come to define our country and our education system...When we talk about Early Childhood Development, we’re not just talking about education—we’re talking about the foundation for everything.
"The first few years of a child’s life shape who they’ll become, not just as learners in school, but as citizens, as professionals and indeed as future leaders of this country," she said.
Cape Times
