Parliament opening: Ramaphosa promotes ‘cooperation nation’ with GNU

By establishing the government of national unity (GNU), President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that the government has set itself on the path towards a ‘cooperation nation.’

Cabinet ministers and members of parliament (MPs) descended on Cape Town City Hall on Thursday night for the opening of parliament when Ramaphosa laid out plans for South Africa under its new government.

As he delivered the address for the seventh administration, the president called on all South Africans to behave like weaver birds – a species of bird that cooperates and builds complex structures together.

“Despite all the challenges, despite our differences, despite all the headwinds, as South Africans, we are called upon to remain firmly committed to pursue the path of cooperation, growth, and inclusion,” he said.

The president said this as the government officially kicks off the five-year parliamentary cycle under an unprecedented 11-party GNU.

In his address, Ramaphosa outlined the seventh administration’s strategy through a minimum programme with priority actions.

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Three strategic priorities

As South Africans remain poor, unemployed, and live in a highly unequal society, Ramaphosa said the GNU resolved to dedicate the next five years to actions that will advance three strategic priorities.

These are:

• driving inclusive growth and job creation,

• reducing poverty and the high cost of living, and

• building a capable, ethical, and developmental state.

Inclusive economic growth

Inclusive economic growth will be at the centre of the work at the top of the national agenda, the president said.

“We are determined that growth must be inclusive. It must be transformational. Inclusive growth must drive the redistribution of wealth and opportunity,” Ramaphosa said.

“It must support the empowerment of black South Africans and women and all those who, in the past, had been relegated to the fringes of the economy. This is part of the constitutional imperative to redress the imbalances of the past and deal with the slow process of development.”

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The president made a commitment to fix struggling municipalities by encouraging businesses to expand and create more jobs to attract investors.

‘Turn SA into a construction site’

In the next five years, the president said the GNU will make a massive investment in infrastructure for transport, roads, water, energy, and human settlements.

By massively increasing the scale of investment in infrastructure, the president said the plan is to position Infrastructure South Africa as the central institution of coordination and planning.

“From our largest metros to our deepest rural areas, we have a clear intention to turn our country into a construction site as roads, bridges, houses, schools, hospitals, and clinics are built, as broadband fibre is laid, and as new power lines are installed,” Ramaphosa said.

The president added that the government will drive growth in labour-intensive sectors such as services, agriculture, green manufacturing, and tourism and create more jobs for South Africans.

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Tackling poverty and high cost of living

The president said that the government 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.

“The best way to deal with poverty is for people to have jobs. We have, however, made interventions to support the unemployed through a variety of interventions, including during Covid when we introduced the SRD Grant,” Ramaphosa said.

He added that this grant will be used as a basis for the introduction of a sustainable form of income support for unemployed people.

A well-functioning and quality education system reduces poverty, and as a result, the government has made a commitment to ensure schools are conducive to education, with enough classrooms, safe and appropriate sanitation facilities, clean water, and a daily meal for those who need it.

NHI

In terms of reducing the high cost of living, the president highlighted the highly-criticised National Health Insurance (NHI) as a way of ensuring that everyone has equal access to equitable, accessible, and affordable quality healthcare.

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“As we implement the National Health Insurance, we will focus on strengthening healthcare infrastructure, improving training of healthcare personnel, and using technology to improve healthcare management,” Ramaphosa said.

He added that while there is much contestation around the NHI, the government is confident it will bring stakeholders together, resolve differences, and clarify misunderstandings.

Building a capable, ethical and developmental state

Ramaphosa said the government will continue to fight corruption and prevent undue political interference by having capable, sophisticated, and independent law enforcement agencies that can fight complex and organised crime.

“We will deploy modern technology to assist crime fighting. A data-driven approach will be used to identify violent crime hotspots and inform the allocation of policing resources alongside prevention measures,” he said.

The president added that the government will continue to tackle crimes like illegal mining, gang violence, cash-in-transit heists, and the construction mafia through specialised police units.

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