Simon Nare
President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed that the Government of National Unity has three priorities in the next five years as the historic coalition government began its journey with the Opening of Parliament Address (OPA) to mark the official start of the 7th administration.
Ramaphosa, delivering his opening address, said the GNU will in the next five years be action driven and advance three strategic priorities. These he said will drive inclusive growth and job creation, reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living and build a capable, ethical and developmental state.
“We have decided to place inclusive economic growth at the center of the work of the Government of National Unity and at the top of the national agenda. The Government of National Unity will pursue every action that contributes to sustainable, rapid economic growth and remove every obstacle that stands in the way of growth,” said Ramaphosa.
The President committed the new government in several actions that he said will be inclusive such as economic growth that will be transformational, growth that should drive distribution of wealth and opportunities as well as empowering the previously disadvantaged, he said.
Ramaphosa said the inclusive growth as espoused in the GNU letter of intent required that social, economic, cultural and other barriers are removed to ensure full participation of previously disadvantaged are accommodated.
The President spoke of a GNU that was in total agreement on policies that sounded in sync with the ANC government and one which was determined to work and succeeded in all it had set itself to achieve.
He spoke of increased funding to land reform, prioritising the transfer of state land and improving post-settlement support by strengthening the institutional capacity of responsible structures.
Further, the President spoke of how municipalities must become both services and facilitators of inclusive economic growth. He said municipalities should drive the approach to encourage businesses to expand and create more jobs in municipal areas.
To achieve rapid and inclusive growth, struggling municipalities needed to be fixed as growth happened at the local level where people lived and worked, he said.
“As the national government, we have both a Constitutional responsibility and a clear electoral mandate to assist municipalities in the effective exercise of their powers and functions.
“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,” he said.
Ramaphosa also touched on State Owned Enterprises, the National Health Insurance and employment. He added that with SOEs there will be an implementation of a centralised ownership model which will improve accountability, transparency, governance and oversight and will reduce efficiency and potential corruption.
“In implementing the NHI, we are confident that we will be able to bring stakeholders together and that we will be able to resolve differences and clarify misunderstandings,” he said.
On efforts to tackle crime and corruption, Ramaphosa spoke of the need for capable, sophisticated and independent law enforcement agencies that can fight complex and organised crime.
“An important task of the next five years is to ensure that we also reduce the high cost of living through ensuring that everyone in South Africa has equal access to equitable, accessible and affordable quality health care,” he said.
Social subsistence grants as a platform to help the poor was another area the president touched on, adding that this would provide a lifeline to millions of unemployed people.
Ramaphosa said the government would use this grant as a basis for the introduction of a sustainable form of income support for unemployed people to address the challenge of income poverty.
“We 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, to identify areas where prices can be reduced.
“We will manage public finances with a view to stabilising debt. We are firmly committed to steadily reducing the cost of servicing our debt so that we can redirect funds towards other critical social and economic needs.”
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