Dr. Corné Mulder
FF Plus MP and parliamentary leader
18 July 2024
With previous opening addresses, the ANC head of state apparently acknowledged the country’s problems and promised to address them, but those promises never realised.
Tonight’s promises were nothing new. The involvement and new energy of the Government of National Unity (GNU) partners could, however, make all the difference through a genuine commitment to achieving success and a national dialogue to include all role players.
The FF Plus will do all it can to ensure that the promises are delivered on.
Tonight’s Opening of Parliament Address (OPA) by President Cyril Ramaphosa was clearly inclusive and embraced the input of the GNU partners. Much emphasis was placed on growth, job creation and infrastructure development.
For the first time in decades, ordinary South Africans can have hope and expect that the OPA promises are not just empty words.
The GNU partners should now shoulder the huge responsibility of doing everything they can through providing input and participating in the Executive Authority to set the ball rolling to deliver on the promises.
Reality will dictate that the many promises President Ramaphosa made to turn South Africa into a Utopia overnight is asking too much of one term. The focus should, first and foremost, be on what is within reach.
A loud false note was the announcement that the National Health Insurance (NHI) is not off the table. It remains a bone of contention.
Strikingly, the President emphasised, first and foremost, expertise and competence as a starting point for inclusive growth, job creation and transformation, particularly with regard to senior positions in municipalities and metros.
It should pave the way for true Black Economic Empowerment (BEE). This is what the FF Plus has been advocating for years.
Ensuring sound economic growth through eliminating patronage in favour of competence could pave the way to a labour market where everyone has a seat at the table of success and unemployment can increasingly be eradicated.
That is the only way to ensure true equality for all.
Other positive points include using state-owned land for land reform purposes, a strong focus on infrastructure and turning dysfunctional municipalities around.
Emphasis was also placed on the all-important role of the private sector in facilitating growth and attracting investors. Government cannot accomplish it all on its own.
The President’s promise was that the country would be turned into an enormous construction site. Dams, schools, hospitals and roads should be built.
A culture of properly maintaining public infrastructure should be established. Up to now, the general trend was to let infrastructure decay once construction was completed. Likewise, the manufacturing sector was also left to deteriorate.
South Africa should be the one to develop and process its wealth of mineral resources. The country should focus on renewed industrialisation efforts and not simply export its wealth.
Small- to medium-sized business enterprises should be supported and developed. They are the backbone of a country’s economy and every effort should be made to help them create more jobs. Administrative red tape should be done away with.
These and other plans for development through natural energy utilisation, youth development and a national dialogue to tie everything together will certainly be welcomed by every South African.
The difference is that in the past, one knew that nothing would come of the promises. This time, however, accountable parties such as the FF Plus are involved to help set the ball rolling.
;
