GNU talks are done – now let’s work

At the time of writing this, South Africans still did not know which people would be making up the long-awaited government of national unity (GNU).

Let’s hope, though, that the saying “good things come to those who wait” pans out because we certainly have been waiting.

The fact that the tortuous negotiations to arrive at a GNU acceptable to all parties took so long might indicate a number of things.

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Firstly, the failure to reach agreement quickly and the widely reported spats between the ANC and the next biggest party (by votes), the DA, might show that the talks were acrimonious.

Undoubtedly, compromise is never going to make anyone happy, so there may still be a lingering bad taste.

On the other hand, the time taken to craft the agreement could also show that, no matter how testy the meetings (and the various letters between parties) may have been, no-one was prepared to throw their toys out of the cot and walk away.

That would indicate political maturity and a commitment to put the future of the country ahead of personal or party ambitions.

We would hope that the craftsmen who designed and manufactured this Cabinet would have built it to last.

The alternative, as the cliché goes, is really too ghastly to contemplate.

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But now is the time to put the talking behind us and start the doing – the hard work needed to arrest this country’s slow slide into failed state status.

The areas which need to be addressed as a matter of urgency are ways to create an economy which will increase the number of jobs and reduce our horrendous unemployment and a programme to quickly and effectively, manage land redistribution.

Success in those areas will not only show the GNU is our hope for the future, it will beat the radical parties at their own game.