President Ramaphosa gave a speech on January 8 urging South African Voters to vote for him in the ANC election. In his speech, Ramaphosa addressed social problems, specifically rape, that he will work to combat if he is reelected. In 2018, there were about 40,000 reported rapes in South Africa alone, which means about 110 people are raped each day. Ramaphosa disclosed that those were only a small fraction of rapes that actually occur since many incidents are not reported. The speech was a call to action, targeted particularly at men, urging everyone to put an end to the national crisis. Ramaphosa stated the measures he is willing to take to combat this issue if he is reelected, including a legal reform that will increase the sentence for rape and train police officers. The president is also encouraging people to teach kids about the problems with sexual assault to lower the number of cases in the future. Sexual assault is a worldwide problem, and Ramaphosa is one of the only presidents who is addressing and taking the first step toward combating this issue. Not only is sexual assault an event that affects the victim emotionally for the rest of their life, but it can discourage people from living their daily lives. For example, if a workplace is unsafe, women and men can be uncomfortable and leave their employment. The first step to lowering unemployment is creating jobs, but if employees don’t feel secure at work, than there will be a lack of people in the workforce. Sexual assault can affect a countries economy, so it is important to address social issues as well as populist issues, like the South African land reform. Unlike his predecessor Jacob Zuma, President Ramaphosa is focused on creating a future for South Africa where the citizens will feel safe and equal.
