Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
16 July 2024 | 23:28 SAST
1-minute read

Image: Radio Islam International

South Africans await with bated breath President Ramaphosa’s Opening of Parliament Address (OPA) that is scheduled to take place on Thursday.

It will be the President’s first speech since the election, and analysts suggest that political rhetoric will be used to convince South Africans to believe in the new Government of National Unity (GNU),

Despite claims that participants of the GNU are united and in complete agreement, political analyst Sandile Swana says that dissent and differences of opinion are natural and will eventually come to the fore.

“We have seen that there is opportunism within the GNU. For instance, when the ANC… [held the] vote for the speaker of parliament and to pass that phase of setting up parliament, they told the DA that they are not ANC’s equal partners. “We are still going to open the door and invite more people and we are not going to have any veto powers,” Swana said.

The GNU, it appears, will not be immune to the probable fragmentation that will be caused by the different political parties’ individual political motives.

“We are going to pass this stage after this stage we would expect that prime ministers from different parties would want to gain some prominence and popularity for their political parties within the GNU, more than building credibility of the GNU,” Swana said.

However, there have been numerous statements from some ministers from opposition parties that show commitment to drive positive change in a short time span.

Swana says that there is “realistic opportunity” for improvement and that “there is enough space for them to do corrections, because part pf the failure and the electoral loss of the ANC has been through neglect of the duties that they were supposed to perform.”

In addition to neglect and laziness, many of South Africa’s problems stem from the absence of a feasible plan to implement Ramaphosa’s vision for South Africa.

“A lot of the criticism, for instance from former President Thabo Mbeki, former Statistician-General, are related to the tactical work that is not getting done … his vision not being translated into an implementable plan,” Swana said.

Listen to the full interview on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat here.