Ramaphosa ‘to reveal Cabinet lekgotla outcomes at Parliament opening’

Cyril Ramaphosa

Cape Town – Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says President Cyril Ramaphosa will announce the government’s programmes and priorities next week.

This follows the start on Saturday, of the Cabinet lekgotla of the Government of National Unity (GNU) at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria.

The two-day lekgotla is focused on discussing the government’s priorities and programme of action for the seventh administration.

Attending the lekgotla are Deputy President Paul Mashatile, Ministers, and provincial Premiers.

Ntshavheni, speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, said that the programme of action is guided by the priorities outlined in the GNU’s Statement of Intent.

She said that these priorities will inform the Medium Term Development Plan, previously known as the Medium Term Strategic Framework.

“The set of actions are being guided by the priorities agreed by the parties to the GNU. In those nine priorities there is going to be a number of presentations that will say how we agree on this. And we are guided, as another filter, by the National Development Plan (NDP),” said Ntshavheni.

The priorities include:

  • Economic growth, job creation, and transformation
  • Creating a more just society
  • Stabilising local government
  • Investing in education, skills development, and healthcare
  • Building state capacity
  • Strengthening law enforcement agencies
  • Enhancing the effectiveness of Parliament
  • Promoting social cohesion, nation-building, and democratic participation, and combating racism, sexism, tribalism, and other forms of intolerance
  • Foreign policy based on human rights, constitutionalism, national interest, solidarity, and peaceful conflict resolution

“[Some of the priorities] focus on economic growth, inclusive growth, and job creation. We are looking at what we should do to unlock the economy to grow so that it can create jobs for the people of South Africa,” Ntshavheni said.

She added that the lekgotla is addressing issues such as water, electricity, and energy reforms to support economic growth and job creation.

The Minister also highlighted the importance of partnerships with business and the need for a capable, ethical, and developmental state.

“We need a partnership with business. We need also a capable, ethical, and developmental state to have that capacity,” she said.

Ntshavheni stressed that the lekgotla will be guided by “evidence-based planning and action”. with input from the Statistician General, Risenga Maluleke, to ensure that government programmes are data-driven.

Following the lekgotla, the Cabinet, which includes Ministers and the President, will adopt the programme of action.

“It has to be adopted by Cabinet. Cabinet is the governing authority of South Africa so it will adopt it and [then] clusters will go and work on their priorities and initiatives. From there departments go and work,” Ntshavheni clarified.

The Minister underscored the importance of collective implementation of government priorities, regardless of political affiliation.

“We are going to implement government priorities collectively because there’s no ‘DA minister’, there’s no ‘ANC minister’, there is only a ‘minister of government’. We are consolidating so that we have a single view and a single programme of action that is agreed to by all and that cascades to provinces,” she said.

Ramaphosa will communicate the outcomes of the lekgotla during the opening of Parliament on 18 July.

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Compiled by Betha Madhomu

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