The members of the seventh administration in the Government of National Unity (GNU) are meeting in Pretoria today. Picture: X / South African Government
The Cabinet Lekgotla is convening in Pretoria today, bringing together ministers from the Government of National Unity (GNU) to discuss priorities and plans for the year ahead of the State Of the Nation Address (Sona).
The two-day meeting comes amid rising tensions among GNU partners over several Bills enacted by President Cyril Ramaphosa recently.
The G20 meeting, job creation, sustainable energy, reviving the economy, and the recent killing of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are expected to top the agenda.
The meeting’s outcomes will shape the Sona scheduled for next month.
Contentious issues such as the National Health Insurance (NHI), Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act, and the recently signed Expropriation Act will also play centre-stage.
Speaking on national television, Wits University’s Tshepang Molale said the GNU partners would have to get along during the meeting so that there would be a way forward.
“One is expecting that they (government) need to come to a point where they identify ways to try and resolve all these tensions because it is in their best interest for their relationship not to disintegrate.
“They have to find a way to make sure that they survive their differences because what is important is for the government to have coherence… And what is also important is that they must come up with policy priorities that are going to advance the country going forward,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) has been speaking to other parties in the GNU to challenge the constitutionality of the Expropriation Act in the Constitutional Court, while the DA has lodged a formal dispute within the GNU.
Despite these tensions, Ramaphosa has reportedly stressed that the ANC’s focus at the Lekgotla is on improving the lives of South Africans.
At least 10 GNU parties at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria will attend the meeting.
mashudu.sadike@inl.co.za