Disaster for SA if new cabinet has same old mindset

Opening proceedings at the presidential inauguration bash at the Union Buildings, cabinet minister Jeff Radebe joked that retiring colleague Trevor Manuel was the only person "not worried about tomorrow".

Indeed, millions of us are very worried about what lies in store as Jacob Zuma begins lumbering through his second term as president.

Of course, Radebe was referring exclusively to his little circle of ANC top brass and their tittering nervousness about who might land which plum cabinet job.

Even so, millions of citizens will be worried about whether these on-edge mandarins in the court of JZ will have the ability and the gumption to tackle effectively this country's challenges.

In his inauguration speech, Zuma tried to reassure people that their lot in life was about to improve. The phrase "inclusive growth" was meant to suggest that it is not only the well-connected elite who will henceforth enjoy the wealth generated by the economy. Tossed in, too, was a promise of "radical socioeconomic transformation".

With such words Zuma is addressing his various constituencies: the poor, whose lives have barely changed in 20 years of ANC rule; his party's tripartite alliance partners and those on the alliance's left wing, who are restive at the slow pace of economic growth, and the voters who abandoned the ANC for the simplistic siren-call of the red-beret brigade.

This has more to do with political manoeuvring and infighting than with dealing with the problems besetting millions of ordinary people.

Zuma says growth will blossom with an increased role for the state in the economy. Such a statement makes it blindingly clear that our president and his advisers have a poor grasp of economic realities.

Everywhere one looks in the news media there is another tale of government incompetence, indolence or criminality. Will this state of affairs change overnight because Zuma commands it?

Fast growth happens when governments prepare fertile ground in which the private sector can flourish. When developmental states have successfully intervened in transforming and growing the economy it was because of clear vision, policy steadfastness and giving considerable assistance to the wealth-creating, job-creating sectors.

None of this characterises the ANC under Jacob Zuma.

We are not worried about the changes to Zuma's cabinet. We are worried about there being no change in mindset.