The statement of intent, that all political parties signed, is the glue that holds them together, President Cyril Ramaphosa said today.
Ramaphosa said apart from the letter of intent keeping all 11 political parties together, the Constitution was the overarching glue that all parties subscribed to its values and principles.
“We combined around that and start plotting what needs to be done to advance the lives of the people of South Africa in accordance with the priorities set out in the statement of intent.
“So when I open Parliament, I will be outlining precisely the issues that we have arrived at, so there was unanimity on nearly everything. It was an extremely wonderful Cabinet lekgotla,” the president said.
This was the first Government Of National Unity (GNU) lekgotla that was attended by its ministers to chart a policy framework for the seventh administration.
The first lekgotla was also attended by government stakeholders including director generals, premiers and local government officials.
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said there was a presentation by an economic expert concerning economic development.
Ntshavheni said the Cabinet focused on inclusive growth and job creation.
She said the lekgotla was focusing on areas of reforms that would unlock the economy.
“The issues around water, electricity and energy in general. The impact it has had in our economy, what are we doing to deal with the reforms,” said the Minister in the Presidency.
Speaking to media on the sidelines, Ntshavheni said the programme of action was guided by the priorities set out in the GNU’s statement of intent.
“That will allow us to then go back and consolidate what you know as the Medium Term Strategic Framework. Now we are calling it the Medium Term Development Plan.
“The set of actions are being guided by the priorities agreed by the parties to the GNU. In those nine priorities there is going to be a number of presentations that will say how we agree on this. And we are guided, as another filter, by the National Development Plan (NDP),” she said.
Ntshavheni said after the lekgotla, the Cabinet would adopt the programme of action.
“It has to be adopted by Cabinet. Cabinet is the governing authority of South Africa so it will adopt it and then clusters would go and work on their priorities and initiatives. From there departments go and work. The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, during that period, will continue to work and make sure that there’s alignment across departments and everyone knows what they want to do.
“We are going to implement government priorities collectively because there’s no ‘DA minister’, there’s no ‘ANC minister’, there is only a ‘minister of government. We are consolidating so that we have a single view and a single programme of action that is agreed to by all and that cascades to provinces,” she said.
Ramaphosa is expected to communicate the outcomes of the lekgotla during the opening of Parliament on Thursday.
The Cabinet lekgotla was held at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Tshwane this past weekend.
The Star