President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Opening of Parliament Address was debated in a joint sitting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, and received mixed reactions from the 18 political parties represented.
As expected, support for the President came from parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU), while parties on the opposition slammed his speech, saying it regurgitated previous offerings from the President.
The Chief Whip of the African National Congress, Mr Mdumiseni Ntuli, said the ANC parliamentary caucus was ready to support the seventh administration to ensure stability and prosperity for all, while ensuring accountability and transparency. “We must renew the commitment to bridge the gap between the people and our Parliament and the government. In this regard we plan to work collaboratively with all political parties represented in this house – recognising that every party carries a legitimate voice and the aspirations of its constituents,” he said.
The leader of official opposition, uMkhonto weSizwe Party, Dr John Hlophe said the President’s speech failed on many fronts, including on building infrastructure in rural areas. “I don’t know when it is going to start. He has never done it before. What would make us believe that he would now suddenly focus on rural areas as a priority?
“We do support infrastructure development in rural areas, but the question is where money is going to come from. We keep borrowing money every day. We need serious agrarian revolution to turn things around. Rural areas in the main have not been taken seriously,” Dr Hlophe claimed.
On the establishment of the GNU, Dr Hlophe said this is a cruel joke between the Ramaphosa faction of the ANC and the Democratic Alliance perpetuated against the oppressed and downtrodden masses. “Our people are painfully aware that it will be impossible to create a united nation in South Africa unless the legacy of apartheid and colonialism was addressed.
“Through what magic do you hope to forge unity of the oppressor and the oppressed, the exploiter and the exploited, the rich capitalist and the exploited and toiling working class?” Dr Hlophe enquired.
Mr John Steenhuisen, the leader of the Democratic Alliance and Minister of Agriculture in the GNU said the GNU reflects the will of the people, who have clearly stated that they want an end to single party domination in favour of multiparty cooperation. “This Government of National Unity is South Africa’s chance to free itself from populism, division and economic decline. This is our opportunity to build South Africa into the prosperous country it can be – together,” he said.
“The planned review of sector master plans to identify obstacles to growth, the emphasis on increasing our focus on exports, and our shared commitment to slashing red tape to crowd-in private sector investment, gives us the key ingredients we need to succeed.
“I also welcome the policy interventions to expand the basket of food items exempt from VAT, to review and reduce the fuel price, to prevent undue political interference in the public service, and to set up specialised policing units to fight violent crime and the construction mafias,” Mr Steenhuisen said.
Mr Julius Malema, the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, claimed the President sounded like a “wounded buffalo” in his speech and it was uninspiring and “tired”. “All what you said is meaningless – repetition of things said in previous state of the nation addresses, none of the commitments made have been met,” Mr Malema claimed.
“The National Development Plan (NDP) target will never be met. The NDP targeted a certain number of jobs, but joblessness has increased, poverty has also increased. More people live in poverty under your presidency than any period in the past thirty years.”
Mr Malema continued: “The speech was silent on international relations, on Palestine, because you don’t want to offend your coalition partners. There is instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo where South African soldiers are in that war – you never said anything.”
In addition, Mr Malema pointed out that the speech said nothing about the high levels of crime. He promised that the EFF will continue to call on government to cancel student debt and introduce free decolonised education.
Mr Velenkosini Hlabisa, leader of Inkatha Freedom Party and Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in the GNU, said the IFP is committed in making the GNU stable and successful, for it is the result of the will of the people of South Africa.
“The GNU is a bold and necessary step in the right direction. We have repositioned South Africa to embark on a journey of rebuilding herself and the future of our generation and generations to come. The real work of changing the lived reality of every South African must proceed with utmost haste,” Mr Hlabisa said.
The IFP also welcomed the position taken by the President to review the municipal funding model to ensure that municipalities can become fully functional.
The leader of the Patriotic Alliance and Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture in the GNU, Mr Gayton McKenzie, believes the GNU will take the country forward. He called on parties in Parliament to put their political differences aside and put the country first.
Dr Pieter Groenewald, Minister of Correctional Services and leader of the Freedom Front Plus said: “We are living in a broken country. We have an economic growth of less than one percent but in Africa the average economic growth is 3,7% - it means there is a problem.
“People do not feel safe in South Africa and to address that we will have to look at the criminal justice system, because that plays an important role if we want to build the economy,” Mr Groenewald also mentioned.
Mr Athol Trollip of Action SA said the speech sounded promising but, in reality, his party believes it is a fantasy. “We don’t trust you anymore Mr President, we don’t believe you anymore … We have heard your ‘we will do speeches’ so often, but we have never heard a ‘we have done speech’,” Mr Trollip said.
Mr Trollip went on to say that the government will need to repair the country’s international reputation before it will be able to attract the foreign direct investment that it needs to grow the economy. The government will have to get South Africa off the international grey list while creating political stability and policy certainty to attract investors. Investors will also look for a government that is stamping out corruption and violent crime before they will invest, he said.
Mr Wayne Thring of the African Christian Democratic Party said the GNU priorities of driving growth and job creation, reducing poverty and tackling the high cost of living will be a mammoth task because South Africa is facing a fiscal crisis. We have a debt to gross domestic product of 74 per cent and a budget deficit of over R300 billion, which will be added to already accumulated debt of over R5 trillion.
Debt service costs are crowding out key government service delivery programmes and the tax base is shrinking. Meanwhile, budget cuts mean service delivery will be impeded. “Race based policies are a hinderance to structural reform and economic growth,” Mr Thring also said.
Sakhile Mokoena
22 July 2024
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