Lekota praises Ramaphosa’s stimulus package for undoing ‘own goals’

Congress of the People (Cope) leader Mosiuoa Lekota said on Friday he welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s stimulus package but it came from a position of weakness.

Lekota was quick to provide his views on the president’s stimulus plan after the recent news of the country slipping into recession.

In a series of tweets, he said it was clear that the plan was from “a position of weakness in the face of self-made constraints – including that of limited fiscal space”.

“Much of the reforms announced refer to ‘own goals’ scored by the poor and corrupted governance of the state by the ANC.”

This applied to the crumbling health and education sectors. It was bad and corrupted governance that had brought these sectors to their knees, said Lekota, who blamed the ANC for creating uncertainty in the agriculture sector.

“It is government through its mismanagement of Eskom that created the energy crisis and the dramatic rise in electricity costs – and now government wants to reduce the cost of doing business.”

He said much of what was announced by Ramaphosa were efforts to undo wrongs committed by the ANC.

Lekota blamed “state capture” for weakening the state and its capacity to increase output and jobs as a result.

Cope questioned Ramaphosa’s governance, however, on whether it would have the capabilities to put the stimulus package into effect.

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