A disabled man's heartfelt plea to President Cyril Ramaphosa

IOL News

6 days ago

A disabled man in North West has written an impassioned plea to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Image: GCIS
Dear Mr President Cyril Ramaphosa,
My name is Seako Masibi, from Mahikeng in the North West Province. I am a disabled South African who does receive a disability grant, but I am writing not only for myself.
I write this letter on behalf of millions of South Africans who feel forgotten and betrayed:
Fathers who cannot provide for their children.
Mothers forced into survival mode every day.
Unemployed Matriculants, Graduates, Artisans—skilled, educated, but rejected by a system that does not see them.
We are not writing to beg. We are writing to remind you that we exist. That we are watching. That we are bleeding.
Mr President, I have been unemployed since 2017, the year you became ANC President. That's not a coincidence. Under your leadership, I've gone from hopeful to hopeless. I remember when the media celebrated your rise. They called you the saviour. The businessman who would turn South Africa into a land of opportunity.
I believed them. I believed them when they called President Jacob Zuma 'corrupt and uneducated'. However, now I know better.
Because in those so-called 'nine wasted years' two new universities were built.
In those 'wasted years', I was never unemployed for more than a month.
In those years, I saw development—flawed, yes—but visible and tangible.
Compare that to now:
I've been unemployed for 7 years.
No new universities.
No mass empowerment.
No new vision.
Just more poverty.
And the only thing growing faster than our suffering has been the debt you continue to take on in our name.
You borrow billions from the IMF, knowing full well that their loans come with conditions designed to keep nations like ours weak and dependent.
When I read "The New Confessions of an Economic Hitman", I realised the truth: leaders are seduced into borrowing from Western institutions, promising reforms that only deepen inequality, while the wealth of the nation is redirected to foreign hands.
That is what you have done, Mr President.
And what have we, the people, received in return?
R370 per month.
Let's do the maths:
R370 × 10 million people × 12 months × 5 years = R222 billion
R222 billion in five years — That's what government has spent keeping people poor, instead of making them powerful.
Now I ask you: Why not give each of those 10 million recipients R250,000 in Asset Assistance instead?
That amount could:
Start township businesses, farms, salons, or workshops,
Buy equipment, tools, delivery scooters, or sewing machines,
Empower people to create value, not just survive.
You speak of entrepreneurship, but you fund dependency.
You speak of youth opportunity, but you give them waiting lines and false hope.
Mr President, I applied for TREP (Township and Rural Enterprise Programme) on January 15, 2023. It took 11 months just to receive a generic acknowledgement. Since then, I've been forced to resubmit 'updated' documents every few months—proof of residence, ID copies, quotes that expire before anyone responds.
I also applied for the Asset Assistance Programme. Still, no reply.
Even worse, I've been told that unless I join the ANC, I won't get help. If this is true, then let us stop pretending we live in a democracy.
I also respectfully request that the Department of Human Settlements release funding for my RDP house. If I cannot earn an income, a house alone is not enough. Let me use that support to purchase the equipment I need to start a business and reclaim my dignity.
And then there is your failure to defend this country on the global stage.
Mr President, you went to the White House, and sat across from US President Donald Trump. You took with you the very people the world says are your handlers. Trump accused us—South Africans—of committing genocide against white farmers, and you said nothing. Not once did you correct him. Not once did you stand up for us. Not even when Elon Musk repeated that lie to the world.
In that moment, you failed every one of us.
I watched the late President Nelson Mandela's interviews, and I saw a different kind of leader. He was calm, but firm. He defended the truth. He did not cower in the face of criticism. He corrected Western hypocrisy with wisdom and fire.
But you, Mr President, chose silence—a silence that cost us dignity.
And finally—your choice to form a Government of National Unity with the DA, while sidelining parties like the MKP and EFF who fight for land and economic transformation, is a betrayal of the liberation struggle.
You say the ANC is a revolutionary movement—then I ask:
Where is the revolution?
Who is it for?
We are not charity cases. We are builders of this country, if only we are given the means.
This is not just a complaint, Mr President. It is a declaration of desperation—and a warning.
Millions are suffering in silence. But silence is becoming dangerous.
What must we do to succeed in this country? Or are we meant to suffer until we surrender?
R222 billion was spent in the last five years to manage poverty. Imagine what South Africa could become if that money was used to unleash potential instead of maintain oppression.
Please, Mr President.
Let this not be another unanswered letter in a broken filing system.
Let this be the one you read—and act on.
With respect, but no longer with patience
Seako Masibi