Written by: Errol Naidoo
President Ramaphosa’s ‘Opening of Parliament’ address on 18 July rehashed many of his 2018 promises – reducing poverty, tackling the high cost of living and building a capable, ethical and developmental state. The ANC did not deliver on any of these promises.
Reportedly, only 38 of SA’s 257 municipalities received a clean bill of health from the Auditor-General in her 2021/22 municipal audit report. Municipalities around the country grossly underperform in terms of governance, financial management and service delivery.
Similar to the corruption and incompetence seen in the previous government, ANC cadres ran the country’s municipalities into the ground. Fraud, theft and gross mismanagement crippled service delivery as municipalities failed to fix & maintain crumbling infrastructure.
However, what makes Ramaphosa’s objectives different this time is that he is not depending solely on an ANC administration to deliver. The Government of National Unity (GNU) – that includes 10 parties – are collectively tasked with the economic turnaround.
It is likely Cabinet Ministers from other parties in the GNU may outperform ANC Ministers. And this, for the first time in SA’s democracy will expose the ANC’s disastrous cadre deployment policy. The collapse of 219 municipalities is a direct result of ANC failure.
ANC Ministers now have real competition as a result of the GNU. Cabinet Ministers and deputy ministers from the other parties will work hard to deliver in their respective departments to impress their constituencies. The DA, IFP, PA and others have a unique opportunity to prove they can govern honestly and efficiently to improve their chances.
Non-performing Ministers (from any party) can no longer conceal their incompetence. They will be exposed by hard-working colleagues in the GNU. They are aware failure in the GNU could be fatal for their party’s prospects in subsequent municipal and general elections.
This means Ramaphosa’s strategic priorities over the next five years has much better prospects of success because he is not relying solely on the ANC. History proves an ANC majority is disastrous. ANC run provinces like the Eastern Cape tragically prove this fact.
In addition, the fact that Cabinet Ministers from parties other than the ANC will want to outperform each other is good news for citizens. In previous ANC governments, corrupt and incompetent ANC Ministers and deputy ministers were tolerated and even defended.
Cabinet Ministers from other parties in the GNU will ensure they consider the contributions of citizens – especially their constituencies – to avoid suffering the same fate as the ANC.
As a result, the Parliamentary public participation process will no longer provide a mere facade of democracy but will actually acknowledge and heed the comments of citizens.
For example, Ramaphosa has indicated his willingness to re-evaluate the timelines set to implement the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme. Most of the GNU partners believe the NHI is currently unaffordable and therefore impossible to implement in this economy.
It turns out Ramaphosa did not sign the “Basic Education Laws Amendment” (BELA) Bill into law even though it was rushed through Parliament prior to the Elections for his signature. Now the DA Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube has requested Ramaphosa send the BELA Bill back to Parliament to reconsider the public’s comments.
The BELA Bill embodies the ANC’s attempts to control all aspects of education. It is inspired by UNESCO so it can impose “Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity” policies in public and private schools and mandate abortion and LGBTQ propaganda in education.
The BELA Bill disempowers parents and School Governing Bodies (SGB’s). It hands control to DBE officials inspired by ideology rather than the educational needs of children.
Thankfully, these and other ANC Marxist policies may fail as a result of its minority in Parliament. Significantly, however, the voice of ordinary citizens must be heard now more than ever before. Pray fervently for South Africa. Change may be closer than you think.
Standing
Errol Naidoo
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Date published: 23/07/2024
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