South Africa’s new unity government to prioritize inclusive economic growth

By Hassan Isilow

President Cyril Ramaphosa said late Thursday that South Africa’s new Government of National Unity (GNU) will prioritize inclusive growth, job creation and the reduction of poverty.

“We have decided to place inclusive economic growth at the center of the work of the Government of National Unity and at the top of the national agenda,” he said at the opening of the Seventh Parliament in Cape Town.

Ramaphosa’s address on Thursday is historic because it coincides with former President Nelson Mandela’s birthday and it is when he presided over a GNU in 1994 during the first democratic government.

“Our experience over the past 30 years has shown that when our economy grows, jobs are created. When our economy contracts there is no job creation and jobs are lost,” said Ramaphosa.

He said the GNU will pursue every action that contributes to sustainable, rapid economic growth and remove every obstacle that stands in the way of growth.

Ramaphosa said the government is determined that growth must be inclusive, transformational and drive the redistribution of wealth and opportunity.

“It must support the empowerment of black South Africans and women, and all those who in the past had been relegated to the fringes of the economy,” he said.

Ramaphosa explained that the move is part of the constitutional imperative to redress the imbalances of the past caused by apartheid and deal with the slow process of development.

“Inclusive growth demands that we affirm the position of women and youth in the economy. Requires that we remove the social, economic, cultural and other barriers to the full participation of persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups in the economy,” he added.

South Africa held national and provincial elections on May 29 where Ramaphosa’s African National Congress party (ANC), which ruled South Africa without a coalition for the last three decades, lost its majority.

The ANC reached a deal with nine parties to form the GNU, and Ramaphosa appointed partner members to his Cabinet as ministers and deputy ministers.