Ramaphosa will announce Cabinet lekgotla outcomes at Parliament’s opening – Ntshavheni

The programmes and priorities of the government will be announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa next week.

This is according to Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni.

The much-anticipated Cabinet lekgotla of the government of national unity (GNU) got underway at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria.

The two-day lekgotla has been convened to discuss government’s priorities and programme of action in the seventh administration.

The meeting is being attended by representatives from the political parties that make up the GNU including ministers, premiers and directors-general.

Cabinet lekgotla outcomes

Speaking to the media on Saturday, Ntshavheni revealed that the outcomes of the lekgotla will be announced by Ramaphosa at the opening address of Parliament this coming Thursday.

“We are not going to invite the media to a briefing on the outcome of the lekgotla. [This] will be communicated by the president at the opening address of Parliament on the 18th of July.

“We will then go back and meet as clusters, finalise the priorities of clusters and finalise the strategic plans,” she told journalists.

Last week, Ntshavheni indicated that the Forum of South Africa Directors-General (Fosad) would analyse the manifestos of GNU parties, and submit a proposal for consideration at the lekgotla.

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The minister said government’s priorities and programme of action would be detailed in the medium-term strategic framework (MTSF).

She explained the GNU will strive to meet the objectives of the National Development Plan (NDP), which was adopted by Parliament in 2012, along with the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals, using the parties’ manifestos as a guide.

“The set of actions are being guided by the priorities that were agreed to by the parties to the GNU, which are the nine priorities,” the minister further said on Saturday.

Ntshavheni cited economic growth and job creation of some of government’s main priorities.

“We are looking at what should we do to unlock the economy to grow so that it can create jobs for the people of South Africa. To do that, we need partnerships with business.”

UAT leaves GNU

Meanwhile, the United Africans Transformation (UAT) has officially pulled out of the GNU.

UAT leader Wonder Mahlatsi accused the African National Congress (ANC) of acting in bad faith during negotiations.

Mahlatsi explained that the UAT signed the GNU’s statement of intent last month; and as part of the agreement, no party would communicate on the matter until all parties received a signed statement from the office of ANC secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula.

However, the UAT did not hear back from the ANC.

READ MORE: ‘No single party in GNU will unilaterally change policies’ − Magwenya

“We would like to state that to date, we have not received signed documents from the ANC secretary-general’s office, and it took us by surprise to hear the president of the republic announcing that the UAT is part of GNU.

“This happened during his announcement of the Cabinet,” the UAT leader in a video shared on social media.

Mahlatsi added that the UAT would “distance ourselves from being part of GNU and pull out of the negotiations” because the ANC “undermined our existence”.

The UAT, which has one seat in Parliament, will now return to the opposition benches alongside ActionSA, the uMkhonto WeSizwe (MK) party and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), among other parties.