Build One South Africa (BOSA) has given the Government of National Unity (GNU), a 50% rating, after the first 100 days of its formation.
The party, which is not part of the GNU, says it wants the executive arrangement to succeed.
However, it says the cracks that are showing in the GNU, specifically with regard to the Basic Education Laws Amendment bill and National Health Insurance, are the result of the absence of a comprehensive plan for the seventh administration.
Speaking at a media briefing in Rosebank, Johannesburg, BOSA Leader Mmusi Maimane says that the National Dialogue promised by President Cyril Ramaphosa when the GNU was established is now long overdue.
“The lessons we have learnt from the National Development Plan (NDP) is that the NDP does not quickly become translatable into annual performance plans so that you can hold the government to account. Already with six years to go to 2030, the objectives of the NDP are not going to be obtained. What we actually need to do is to create something that is tangible, measurable, that will guide the plans of citizens, both those in the executive in Parliament and other sectors of society.”
Media Statement
After 100 days @BuildOneSA scores the GNU performance at a 50% performance grade with much improvement needed. pic.twitter.com/eywBe82Hof
— Mmusi Maimane MP (@MmusiMaimane) October 1, 2024
BOSA has committed to playing the role of a constructive opposition in Parliament in the face of what it says is weakened accountability due to the establishment of the GNU. The party has red-flagged what are some of the risks facing South Africa as a result of the executive comprising various different parties in the seventh administration.
BOSA has called for the amendment of the rules of Parliament to strengthen oversight of the executive and has raised concern regarding the costs of what it describes as a bloated cabinet.
“You have 70% of Parliament that sits in the GNU, that means one in every five MPs is a minister or a deputy minister and so what then happens is that you have the issue of the weakening of accountability in Parliament. You have a situation that even the GNU, as it is currently comprised, does not have formalised coalition agreements, so at any point over any disagreement it can break. You have seen what is happening in local government and you then have the knowledge that you have a real threat to the stability of the GNU,” says BOSA Deputy President Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster.
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