Economy, crime, corruption on the agenda of cabinet lekgotla

The two-day virtual cabinet lekgotla which started on Wednesday morning will focus its discussions on economic reconstruction and recovery following the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and on crime and corruption.

Briefing the media on Wednesday, Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu said the adverse impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on people’s lives, the economy, employment and businesses prompts government “come with reconstruction and a recovery plan to recover from the devastation caused by Covid-19”.

Mthembu said the lekgotla will talk about the “pillars that inform recovery”, with presentations made “on key areas” that will form part of the recovery plan.

The minister said the lekgotla will discuss what government can do to enhance public and private infrastructure; what government can do to ensure mass employment takes place after millions of jobs were lost, and how to industrialise “and how do we localise” in light of reconstructing and recovering the economy.

“So those are the economic matters we will be focusing on but as you also know, one of the priorities apart from economic growth that we have as a country is dealing with crime and corruption,” Mthembu said.

“We have seen crime and corruption rearing their ugly head, so this government lekgotla will also [disccuss] how do we deal with crime and corruption.”

The lekgotla will also talk about “how do you do justice to the public purse” and “public finances” and what is to be done “to boost expenditure of your public purse and public finances”, Mthembu said.

The two-day virtual government lekgotla, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, will be attended by the country’s premiers, representatives from the leadership of the South African Local Government Association, all the ministers and their deputies.

(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu)

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