President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered a significant address at the opening of Parliament in Cape Town, outlining the priorities of the government’s seventh administration on Thursday, July 18.
The speech was well-received, particularly by the African National Congress (ANC), which praised its alignment with the government’s broader vision and the goals set forth by the Government of National Unity (GNU).
In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, ANC NEC and acting spokesperson Zuko Godlimpi commended the President saying, “President Ramaphosa has sufficiently outlined the programme of government, which reflects the statement of intent of the GNU partners, and aligns with the six key priorities of the ANC manifesto.”
Godlimpi said that the president highlighted the importance of working with various societal sectors through a national dialogue to reach a national agreement on key issues facing South Africa.
He said the president underscored the need for universal healthcare and the extension of access to healthcare for all South Africans, despite disagreements over the funding model.
“The President said there are areas of disagreement between the ANC and other GNU partners, but this means areas of refinement will be addressed.’’
Regarding the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act, Godlimpi confirmed that there were no major issues.
He acknowledged that while some GNU partners disagreed with the ANC on specific financial aspects of the NHI, they did not oppose universal healthcare in principle.
Godlimpi says there might be disagreements about the funding model but it doesn’t take away the fact that universal care is on the table. ‘’We will press ahead on that one, we are not pulling back.
“The NHI is law, and now it’s a matter of working on the implementation plan," he said.
“Even the other GNU partners have expressed the point that they are not opposed to universal healthcare. They disagreed with the ANC on the NHI on specific issues regarding the financial model of it but in principal it cannot be faulted.
“Where the is still scope to discuss and implementation strategy or plan that everybody can come along with, those issues will always be on the table for discussion,” Godlimphi said.
Godlimpi also outlined the ANC’s vision for a comprehensive national dialogue involving a broad cross-section of South African society.
“We want to see social movements in there, community organisations, the clergy, trade movements, student movements, the business sector, being there; we want all virtually sections of society to come in.”
Godlimphi said people must express the strategic key areas of concern that they have about South Africa’s direction, they must outline key proposals about how they think the country should be taken forward but also commit themselves to specific national tasks that they as particular stakeholders or sector are willing to carry out in order to realise this dream.
“Business must commit to increased levels of investments and government will commit itself to better infrastructure for investments.
“The labour movements must commit to particular outcomes in relation to labour performance going forward.
Furthermore, Godlimphi said, the clergy must commit itself to social activism in relation to matters of crime.
‘’We want that sort of broad stakeholder conversation to be the underlying theme of the national dialogue,“ he said.
Godlimphi says everyone has demonstrated a great deal of maturity and preparedness to work together so the camaraderie is good.
Godlimpi highlighted the collaborative spirit among GNU partners, noting that ministries are not operating on the basis of sealed mandates from different political parties. Instead, they are guided by an agreed-upon statement of intent outlining key policy priorities for each department.
“On that front, we are comfortable because it is also a major opportunity that we must leverage.
“Political parties in South Africa have screamed at each other on matters of policy and hardly have a dialogue when they sit around the table and tease out the technical areas of disagreement or outline the strategic areas of disagreement.
“The GNU offers a framework where political parties are bound to have hard conversations and come out with policy outcomes that South Africans can believe in and work around,” Godlimpi said.
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