Cabinet lekgotla will be ‘gathering of nothingness’ – expert

Today’s Cabinet lekgotla will be another talkshop that will not benefit South Africans but simply serve to rubber-stamp the recent ANC party lekgotla, which has shifted away from its medium-term growth blueprint, the National Development Plan.

This was the view of political analyst Xolani Dube, who described the lekgotla as a “gathering of nothingness” because it would produce nothing tangible that would help the country deal with its numerous socio-economic challenges.

The Cabinet lekgotla, at which the executive council led by President Cyril Ramaphosa and senior government officials gather annually to discuss the government programme based on the resolutions of the ANC lekgotla, is also used as preparation for the State of the Nation address and the national budget to be presented next month.

“It has been proven to South Africans that whatever the ANC is doing, it does for the sake of their own interest not that of the people,” Dube said.

He added that the ANC government had moved away from its primary programme, the National Development Plan (NDP), and was putting all its eggs in one basket to pursue what he termed “RamaTitonomics” – a reference to the neo-liberal economic policies followed by Ramaphosa in conjunction with Finance Minister Tito Mboweni.

“When last did you hear the ANC or the government talk about the NDP? Even the president and Ace Magashule did not mention the NDP after the ANC lekgotla because the NDP is no longer the focus of the ANC.

“No one knows what we are aiming to achieve in the next five years anymore,” Dube said.

RamaTitonomics was more of an economic adjustment programme that put belt-tightening and reduction of state expenditure to the fore and service delivery in the back seat, he added.

This showed the ANC had no interest in the people, hence they kept on redefining and remodelling the national objectives.

“Our government is about managing ANC internal issues rather than addressing socio-economic problems. We are in serious crisis that is reaching catastrophic levels.

“The lekgotla should be about how to get out of this quagmire of lack of economic growth and huge unemployment. But it will be about rubber-stamping decisions taken at the ANC lekgotla.”

Dube, who heads the Xubera Institute for Research and Development, added: “I don’t think the Cabinet lekgotla is going to be helpful because it’s not going to go above what the ANC lekgotla has already decided. It’s about positive assessment or affirmation of the party decisions.”

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