Economy to dominate ANC lekgotla

Economic growth‚ or the lack thereof‚ will dominate discussions on Friday when the ANC lekgotla gets underway.

This is according to Secretary General Gwede Mantashe‚ who told the media on Thursday that ANC leaders will on Friday begin putting in place means to spur economic growth as well as finding ways of “how to get out of this junk status”.

The economy was dealt a heavy blow in April when two rating agencies downgraded South Africa to sub-investment grade - colloquially known as junk status.

This followed a late-night cabinet reshuffle in which President Jacob Zuma fired finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy‚ Mcebisi Jonas‚ sending the rand tumbling and costing the country billions.

Mantashe said the lekgotla would look at which sectors of the economy could be targeted to spur growth. Also up for discussion will be issues that will be part of the budget process.

“We have already dealt with the framework of the lekgotla. We will look at issues that will be part of the budget process. We will focus on the economy - economic growth and economic development like how to get out of junk status and look at which sectors [of the economy] where we need to put money‚” said Mantashe.

The Reserve Bank had forecast the economy to grow at at least 0.9% but‚ soon after his appointment‚ finance minister Malusi Gigaba cast doubt on South Africa’s ability to grow at even that measly rate. This would be confirmed by the country’s descent into a technical recession.

Dubbed “a lekgotla of action”‚ Mantashe suggested that Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini could be in for a roasting for her handling of the social grants debacle and her falling out with now former SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) acting chief executive Thokozani Magwaza and former Director-General Zane Dangor.

Dlamini replaced Magwaza with interim chief executive Pearl Bhengu‚ who was found to have a business relationship with the minister’s daughter.

Mantashe said: “We will also look into social development. Where there is chaos‚ we must look into why there is chaos in that space.”

He indicated that the lekgotla would also look at the relationship between ministers and their DGs. The Public Service Commission has previously lamented the high turnover of DGs in the country‚ arguing that it was detrimental to the government’s ability to implement policies.

Mantashe said there would be a greater sense of urgency in dealing with pressing matters as well as outstanding policy issues.

Among these is the National Health Insurance (NHI)‚ which he said “cannot be in pilot phase forever”.

Police Minister Fikile Mbalula looks set to be among ministers who will be expected to outline their departments’ strategies. Mantashe noted that crime was sky-high‚ asking: “What is the action that must be taken?"

- TimesLIVE