{"id":268090,"date":"2026-01-05T04:49:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T04:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.ghanamma.com\/za\/2026\/01\/05\/mantashe-criticises-south-africans-who-sit-back-want-government-to-deliver-jobs-solutions\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T04:49:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T04:49:00","slug":"mantashe-criticises-south-africans-who-sit-back-want-government-to-deliver-jobs-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/za\/2026\/01\/05\/mantashe-criticises-south-africans-who-sit-back-want-government-to-deliver-jobs-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Mantashe criticises South Africans who \u2018sit back\u2019, want government to deliver jobs, solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The relationship between government and society in South Africa is flawed and has led to the creation of a passive society where the public \u201csits in the sun\u201d and waits for the government to deliver services.<\/p>\n

The ANC national chairperson, Gwede Mantashe, has blasted this dynamic and stated that this is a mistake in governance by the ANC that needs to be addressed.<\/p>\n

Mantashe was speaking to a news <\/span>channel yesterday morning, where he defended the party’s track record in service delivery. He said a lot has been achieved by the ANC since the dawn of democracy, adding that these achievements are often underplayed while negativity about the government is given prominence.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I tell you, the difference between China and South Africa? I want to use China because it went through the <\/span>cultural revolution which almost destroyed the country. The difference is that Chinese people put their skin in the fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn South Africa, we have developed a situation of delivery, which means you sit back, you sit in the sun, and you expect the state to deliver, and people are not involved. I am certain that if our people were to get involved, we would be a better country. Let’s work on that; it’s a mistake we have created as the ANC where we have created a passive society instead of ensuring there is an active society that participates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am happy that we have changed the outlook of the country, but I am not happy that many of our people don\u2019t take advantage of the ANC government. I am not happy about that; instead, they sit back and expect the government to deliver,\u201d the chairperson said.<\/p>\n

Making an example, he said he recently engaged with a young woman who spoke of the opportunities in education that the ANC government has provided, from no-fee schools to university education, but was complaining that the ANC has not helped her to find a job. \u201cSo I said to her, the ANC has provided you with a fishing rod; now you expect the ANC to catch the fish for you. That is the angle that is missing in the debate,\u201d Mantashe stated.<\/p>\n

Mantashe added, in his community, he ran a community farming project and eventually had to give it up because the young people had refused to be part of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would prefer a society that <\/span>does things for <\/span>itself. We must have a society that is not passive, that is not dependent on the government or the ANC for solutions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am over 70 years old; the government has never looked for a job for me. Today, because there is a progressive government, people expect the government to give them jobs; they do not look for jobs, and that must change. People must begin to appreciate that you queue up for jobs. I am going back to the point that let’s move out of a passive society to become an active society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Political analyst Thabani Khumalo said Mantashe\u2019s views were partly correct: \u201cWhen they came to power, they made all these promises of delivery and seemed to believe that they could deliver without the other stakeholders, including the public themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Musa Xulu said, \u201cMantashe is, to some extent, correct about the spectator politics of many South Africans when it comes to the issues of service delivery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe concept of service delivery has been constructed in the minds and utterances to mean exactly that citizens don\u2019t have to do anything because once elected, politicians and political parties will deliver \u2018truck loads\u2019 of services. Political parties have not been helpful in clarifying ‘service delivery’ in their quest to be elected. There is a gap in terms of civic education.\u201d<\/p>\n

THE MERCURY<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The relationship between government and society in South Africa is flawed and has led to the creation of a passive society where the public \u201csits in the sun\u201d and waits for the government to deliver services. The ANC national chairperson, Gwede Mantashe, has blasted this dynamic and stated that this is a mistake in governance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":268091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1193,14578,4967,2282,2290,7390,3340,11373,51],"class_list":["post-268090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics","tag-africans","tag-criticises","tag-deliver","tag-government","tag-jobs","tag-mantashe","tag-sit","tag-solutions","tag-south"],"yoast_head":"\nMantashe criticises South Africans who \u2018sit back\u2019, want government to deliver jobs, solutions - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/za\/2026\/01\/05\/mantashe-criticises-south-africans-who-sit-back-want-government-to-deliver-jobs-solutions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mantashe criticises South Africans who \u2018sit back\u2019, want government to deliver jobs, solutions - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The relationship between government and society in South Africa is flawed and has led to the creation of a passive society where the public \u201csits in the sun\u201d and waits for the government to deliver services. 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