By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday has appealed to the larger South African family to behave as weaver birds who give their all to build and cooperate.
He said the establishment of the Government of National Unity (GNU) set the country on a path towards a “co-operation nation”.
Ramaphosa delivered the Opening of Parliament Address (OPA) on Thursday night, at the Cape Town City Hall.
“We would like all of us as South Africans to behave like ‘weaver birds’. Weavers are among the most gregarious birds in that they build complex structures together and cooperate.
“Despite all the challenges, despite our differences, despite all the headwinds, as South Africans we are called upon to remain firmly committed to pursue the path of cooperation, growth and inclusion, said Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa joined politicians and notable others in a joint sitting of the two houses of Parliament on Thursday, officially kicking off the five-year parliamentary cycle.
The latest government contains several different political parties in the form of a GNU. It comes on the day that the nation celebrates anti-Apartheid icon and former president Nelson Mandela.
Acknowledging the differences between the parties, Ramaphosa said that the GNU, in all its disparate views, have agreed to a minimum set of goals and targets that will unite them in their actions.
This has resulted in a development plan that will be executed over the next five years, which will include clear goals and measurable targets that every department will aim towards, regardless of the ministers in charge.
“It is about putting the people of South Africa first and foremost, “Ramaphosa said.
The president said that the GNU has put three main goals at the core of its strategy:
- Drive inclusive growth and job creation
- Reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living
- Build a capable and ethical developmental state
The GNU will also focus on and accelerate public-private partnerships, looking for rapid development and construction. This would include the long-promised broadband fibre, the president said.
A key announcement to come from the address was the GNU’s plans to tackle the high cost of living.
“An effective integrated and comprehensive strategy is necessary to price protection and support to the most vulnerable in society,” Ramaphosa said.
“Even at a time when many companies are making large profits, millions of South Africans are suffering as a result of rising prices – of everything that they buy.”
Ramaphosa said the GNU will look to expand the basket of essential food items exempt from VAT and undertake a “comprehensive review of administered prices, including the fuel price formula”.
“This we did for a while, as prices of fuel kept rising, we found a way we could stabilise the price. We will seek to find ways to address this challenge,” he said.
In outlining his growth vision, Ramaphosa confirmed that a second phase of Operation Vulindlela would be initiated to consolidate reforms already under way in the electricity, freight logistics and water sectors, as well as to facilitate an injection of skills and tourists through visa reform, while also adding new reform priorities.
During the second phase, specific focus would be given to the following areas:
- reforming the local government system and improving the delivery of basic services;
- harnessing digital public infrastructure for growth and inclusion; and
- releasing public land for social housing and redirecting housing policy to enable people to find affordable homes in areas of their choice.
Emphasis was also given in the speech to the issue of growing service delivery backlogs at the municipal level, with the goal of repositioning struggling municipalities and metros as “providers of social services and facilitators of inclusive economic growth”.
“We will ensure that the institutional structure and funding model for local government is fit-for-purpose, and that municipalities are financially and operationally sustainable.
We will put in place systems to ensure that capable and qualified people are appointed to senior positions in municipalities, and ensure independent regulation and oversight of the appointment process.”
Infrastructure development, green energy and the associated industrial spin-offs, manufacturing, agriculture and tourism were also identified as key growth levers for the coming five years.
“From our largest metros to our deepest rural areas, we have a clear intention to turn our country into a construction site, as roads, bridges, houses, schools, hospitals and clinics are built, as broadband fibre is laid and as new power lines are installed,”Ramaphosa said to enthusiastic applause.
While yet again signalling government’s desire to add value to the country’s minerals ahead of export, Ramaphosa argued that it was also time to “seize the enormous opportunity in renewable energy for inclusive growth”.
“As we undertake a just transition towards renewable energy, South Africa must create a green manufacturing sector centred on the export of green hydrogen and associated products, electric vehicles and renewable-energy components.”
He also announced that the country’s sector masterplans would be reviewed and indicated that the intention of the GNU would be to “pursue a smart industrial policy that focuses on the competitiveness of our economy, and that incentivises businesses to expand our exports and create jobs”.
Reducing red tape was another priority area, with departments and public entities having been directed to reduce the undue regulatory burdens that hold back businesses, especially small firms, which “hold the greatest potential for inclusive growth and job creation”.
Ramaphosa also stressed that the GNU would continue to pursue a sustainable macroeconomic policy and address high debt levels.
He also announced a national dialogue to forge a common vision for South Africa’s future.
Through this national dialogue, we are called to be agents of change, to be champions of inclusive growth, to be creators of opportunity,” he said.
It was a reference to the main thrust of his speech — rebuilding an economy that has for a decade grown at an average of less than 1% annually, to create jobs and a more equal society.
“Despite all the challenges, despite our differences, despite all the headwinds, as South Africans we are called upon to remain firmly committed to pursue the path of cooperation, growth and inclusion,” Ramaphosa said.
He said such a gathering, which he mooted when he was sworn in for a second term last month, was one of three scenarios a group of stakeholders foresaw when they gathered a few years ago to consider the country’s many problems.
The first was one of harping blame, symbolised by the calls of the hadeda. The second was a populist coalition that would continue along a path of corruption.
DA leader John Steenhuisen, the new minister of agriculture, said his party welcomed “the progressive announcements” Ramaphosa made, before claiming credit for helping to place these at the heart of the government’s agenda.
“We welcome with open arms the acknowledgement that growing the economy is the starting point to fix so many social ills and create a just and equal society.
“The DA has advocated for some of these policies, and thanks to the votes of millions of South Africans who backed the DA’s cause, these breakthroughs have landed in the agenda.”
EFF leader Julius Malema said Ramaphosa spoke like a defeated man who had lost “all confidence” and sold out to the former official opposition.
“I won’t be shocked tomorrow if I am told that that speech was written by [DA federal council chair] Helen Zille because the DA kept on clapping until the last full stop.”
Rise Mzansi Leader Songezo Zibi has lauded Ramaphosa’s Opening of Parliament Address but warned that it will ultimately be judged on its results.
Zibi, who is also chairperson of the Standing Committee in Public Accounts, is part of the government of national unity.
“We need clear action timelines. The priorities were right; we have heard all of this before,” said Zibi.
“What we need is a clear, funded commitment in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement so that we know that the things he promises are going to be done.
“Secondly, from each of those departments, we need to know what the specific actions are going to be because it’s on those things that the parliament can do its work and hold the executive accountable.”
Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane echoed Zibi’s thoughts, saying Ramaphosa’s address had great ideas, but it can only be judged through implementation.
Maimane’s party has not joined the government of national unity.
He said Ramaphosa has a habit of announcing great ideas without any action.
“You can talk all about all of these growth initiatives in the national logistics sector. In truth, Transnet is an instrument that you need to fix.
“To me, I look at the speech in two-fold: great ideas, the actual work that needs to happen now is the delivery aspect, and we have to hold the president to account for that.”
Leader of the uMkontho weSizwe Party (MK Party) in Parliament, John Hlophe, has called Ramaphosa ‘a sophisticated liar’.
Hlophe says it is clear that Ramaphosa did not prepare the speech himself, claiming it was done by the DA.
“The suggestion that his government has created more than two million jobs, we are all South Africans and we all know that it is a lie and I fail to see on what considerable grounds he can justify the GNU in circumstances where there is no crisis in the country to begin with.”
Hlophe says he also believes that the formation of the GNU was unnecessary.
“The GNU was a deliberate and desperate attempt by the ANC of Ramaphosa to maintain power and that’s what it’s all about.”