SOWETAN SAYS | GNU deal done, now to agree on policy

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s choice of cabinet ministers announced on Sunday evening was always going to elicit a mixed public reaction. 

The moment is significant, not least because for the first time, we have a government of national unity (GNU) comprises several ministers from different political parties. 

In his complex balancing act between serving the interest of the nation and navigating a new political terrain, Ramaphosa’s choices were a mixed bag of good, mediocre and down right inexplicable – depending on our different vantage points. 

Nonetheless, the deal is done. 

In a public address yesterday, DA leader and new agriculture minister John Steenhuisen said the time for finger-pointing was over as this is an era of collaboration.

It is a posture perhaps to be expected from a party that has had a historic breakthrough into the seat of the national government for the first time in 30 years. 

The GNU’s next order of business will define the next five years of its governance. 

The statement of intent signed by 11 parties in this administration states that after the formation of the government, the parties shall hold a Lekgotla to develop an agreed policy agenda, which shall include policy priorities for the GNU.

This will arguably be the next hurdle of this administration. 

With parties represented across the political spectrum and with different ideologies and policy positions on crucial areas of development in SA, formulating a priorities is one thing, but agreeing on a coherent policy direction is another.

This is again where political maturity, a nuanced understanding of the challenges of our country and intellectual vigour will be needed to decide the best approach. 

Thirty years into our democracy it is an indictment on our leaders that our country remains an unequal society defined by huge economic disparities. 

Such disparities determine how the majority of people who live in SA experience the country. 

Be it access to quality education, safety, access to opportunities and even healthcare, inequality is the greatest challenge in SA. 

Therefore, despite the ideological orientation of those in the new government, creating an equal society ought to be the single most important lens through which the GNU views the task ahead. 

It ought to be the most significant metric with which we must judge the performance of this administration.