It's time for a Government of National Delivery

19 July 2024

Mr. President,

Honourable Members,

Bagaetsho, Dumelang.

We begin by welcoming the President’s Opening of Parliament Address (OPA) yesterday evening. It cannot be denied that the ideals expressed are desirable to all South Africans.

The speech outline at least 12 priorities, many of which are not new and have been shared before. As BOSA, we aim to build and be constructive in our approach to how Parliament approaches the Government of National Unity.

It is in that spirit that we respond to the OPA by looking at the 30-year period since 1994, and ahead to 2030, highlighting lessons we can learn from each decade.

Let's start with 2000 to 2010: From Unity to Execution.

During this period, we saw GDP growth averaging 3.5%. This growth was driven by narrowing priorities, because Mr. President, if everything is a priority, nothing is.

We prioritized policing and saw a decrease in the murder rate. We focused on the World Cup and built world class infrastructure, stadiums and fixed roads. The lesson here is the importance of focusing on priorities that has the dual benefit of creating jobs in key sectors.

Cabinet was significantly smaller than the one we have today, indicating that smaller cabinets can deliver more. Mr. President, in your review, you may be well advised to return to your earlier priority of redirecting the cabinet.

Finances were well managed, and borrowing focused on building infrastructure rather than consumption.

The second decade is 2010 - 2020: From Unity to Accountability.

We saw a shift from public finance and the people to private finance and personal gain. These individuals stole in what is now called State Capture, leading to a sharp decrease in growth. I urge you, Mr. President, to fight harder to arrest all the corrupt individuals, whether involved in VBS, Steinhoff, or State Capture. These wrongdoers should not be forgotten in the name of national unity. It is time to lock them up.

We lost institutional capacity and now have the urgent task of rebuilding. If we are serious about not repeating the errors of this era, let’s show serious funding towards the NPA and SIU rather than VIP protection for the new bloated cabinet.

We welcome your focus on local government, but Mr. President, which is where rebuilding needs to begin. But we cannot ignore that local government is not failing due to a lack of summits but due to state capture and poor deployment of municipal managers. This is still ongoing. Let’s kick them out and then we can deliver at the coal face.

The third decade is nearly halfway through: 2020 to 2030.

2030 is just 6 years away. This is the deadline expressed by the National Development Plan (NDP). This period will be defined by geopolitics and our relationship to the world. COVID-19 has taught us about our interdependence in a global wolrd. Now, with conflict all over the world, opportunities are presented both in Africa and globally. The question is whether the R5 billion contingency fund will aid us when the next pandemic comes around. It is crucial that we show we are competing in the global world.

So, Mr. President, instead of an SRD grant whose purchasing power is now R280 due to inflation, let’s replace it with a Basic Income Grant and budget for it in the mid-term.

Secondly, we can benefit from improvements in education and early childhood development (ECD). Now is the time to do so. Our youth are not just unemployed but unemployable. So, Mr. President, let’s agree on scrapping the 30% pass mark.

Workers are not competing with each other but with children in Kenya, whose educational outcomes are improving. They may not work here as xenophobes would have it, but I can assure you the jobs will go there. With 1.2 billion people on our continent, we have a massive opportunity.

Thirdly, we must benefit from the transition from fossil energy to sustainable energy. Let’s become the battery centre of the world, a manufacturing centre for electrical equipment. We can benefit by making the Just Energy Transition our lodestar. Let’s focus on a legacy where, by 2030, we are growing in partnership, not relying on the state as a tool for development but fostering partnerships.

We can allocate spectrum if we allow more partnerships. Let’s set up Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in the townships so they can build batteries.

Let’s borrow to build, not to fund our social wage. If the NDP is our guide, let’s ensure Parliament puts it in the Annual Performance Plans (APPs), for time is ticking, Mr. President.

Unity can only carry us so far. Now we must shift gear to become a country of execution and growth.

I thank you.

Issued by Roger Solomons: BOSA Acting Spokesperson, 19 July 2024