President Cyril Ramaphosa and his deputy Paul Mashatile preside over the first Cabinet Lekgotla of the Government of National Unity. The recent debacle over the VAT increase has exposed how the ANC fails to understand the basic role of the GNU, says the writer.
Image: Jairus Mmutle/GCIS
I CANNOT resist “putting pen to paper’, as it used to be called, to bring attention to the ridiculous comments made by Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri, ANC spokesperson. The government of national unity should be exactly that, a coalition of the various parties in this country to debate, argue and eventually to agree on a point.
In this case, the discussion on the VAT increase went on for weeks after the Finance Minister unilaterally announced a 2% increase. What did he expect? That the other parties would bow down meekly to something they did not agree with, and were not even consulted on? The ANC does not rule the roost any longer ...it is in a GNU.
Does the ANC not understand what that means? It appears not. Eventually, through debate the 2% was brought down to 0.5%, with further increases to come – always an ominous sign. The politicians running the DA are mainly experienced, intelligent people who are used to being in opposition. They understand how the law and parliament works.
In this case, even though they are in a GNU, if they are opposed to something that the ANC is insisting on seeing through, they have every right to disagree and hold up implementation, provided they have enough evidence that this will harm rather than help our country.
How ridiculous to claim that the DA is seeking to entrench the legacy of exclusion, when in fact the intention is just the opposite? The DA took this case to court simply because the ANC, and other sycophantic parties, were determined that the DA would not ‘win’ the argument.
They refused to see that what the DA was doing was not to deliberately thwart them and gain some points. For heaven’s sake, this is not a childish Win or Lose game! This should be looked at solely with the interests of the people of our country at heart. We do not deserve any further increases in the cost of living.
South Africans urgently need more employment opportunities, above all else, so that they can earn a living wage and feed themselves and their families.
I really do believe that the ANC hierarchy have totally forgotten what their original mandate was, when they came to power in 1944.
The fat cats in government and the civil service have forgotten what it is to be excluded, sometimes hungry and desperate to make ends meet.
The DA seems closer to this reality and needs to be heard in the GNU. This should not be a points-scoring exercise – it should be a time when the elected parties come together to genuinely listen to each other and eventually work out a solution to the many problems besetting this country. That is a true GNU.
Lynn Harding | Noordhoek
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