A single mom’s open letter to Cyril Ramaphosa.
Struggling single mother Gladys Nomvuyo Sebeko has written a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa ahead of Women’s Day.
Dear Mr President
I would like to start by saying when you announced that South Africa is going on lockdown in March I was happy because it showed that you care for the nation.
I also remember how you explained how we as a country will handle the pandemic and how you as government will assist the citizens of South Africa with food parcels, unemployed grants and TERS funds. All these things showed a leader that is for the people and who is willing to fight for his people no matter what. Everyone understood that we are in a global pandemic and we need a few changes.
As the pandemic continued your government decided to add another two pandemics which are corruption and greed from leaders. Before coronavirus came we were busy dealing with these pandemics, trying to find solutions and a vaccine for these two pandemics. We as a country are now finding ourselves faced with three pandemics simultaneously and with nowhere to hide or go, and now it’s no longer a pandemic but a tsunami.
While we are still trying to find our way around this tsunami we are currently in, we can loudly hear your silence against your government misbehaviour.
Yes, in your speech you have spoken about people who will face criminal charges if found misusing public funds but all those speeches were not backed up by any action.
I do like the way you give speeches, you truly sound like a re-found leader, however words with no action have no meaning. You coming to us with big English words that are full of empty promises that mean nothing to the poor person that is me.
You as a leader have seen your people stealing food from the poor and said or done nothing. Millions of unemployed’s grant money have disappeared under your leadership.
The reason I decided to write this letter to you as my leader is that I am a single mother of a three-year-old who has been on unpaid leave since the 27th of March. I know I am not the only single mother who is faced with the current situation so I would like to speak on behalf of all the single mothers in South Africa who are in my situation.
We are going through a lot with your government not assisting us. Your government promised us the UIF TERS money as we are on unpaid leave and our companies were not operating during lockdown. The unfortunate part of all this is that your government looted the TERS funds as well and we only received relief funds for two months of these four months of lockdown, while some never received the funds.
While you and your comrades are sitting comfortably in your warm houses and eating your full meal, you need to remember that you took our food and homes away from us. We are left with not only unemployment but we are homeless and in poverty. You left us to fend for ourselves in the trash bins that have your comrades’ leftovers.
We know this Women’s Day you will be giving one of your famous speeches with another bunch of promises, please don’t. We don’t want your speech on this Women’s Day, what we want is action and accountability from your government.
Please don’t ignore my cry as you have ignored the cries of millions of poor people who have been going through a lot during this pandemic. I will really appreciate your response followed by actions, that will be a real Women’s Day present.
Yours sincerely
Gladys Nomvuyo Sebeko
