WATCH | ‘It looks like we have an Instagram government’: ActionSA introduces GNU tracker

ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont has criticised the government of national unity (GNU), labelling it an “Instagram government” more focused on posting announcements on social media than actual governance.

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently expressed confidence in the country's direction under the GNU when the ANC celebrated its 100 days in office on Monday. Ramaphosa was confident South Africans are increasingly rallying behind the government's work.

However, ActionSA is not impressed, prompting the party to launch a “GNU tracker” platform to monitor government performance.

“A tracker of government performance is necessary because it looks like an Instagram government has emerged in South Africa. A government that tends to make announcements and tweets more than it does in terms of policy and legislative reform,” Beaumont said.

“We read that there's a war against construction mafias. Has there been anyone arrested? Has there been any investigations?

“We have people saying this is going to be a fight against corruption, but when they go to cabinet, they sit next to those implicated in corruption.”

Beaumont raised concerns about:

• the controversial Phala Phala issue;
• the size of the cabinet;
• the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act (Bela);
• National Health Insurance (NHI) legislation; and
• cadre deployment.

“As a country we need to be alive to the fact that there are alarming patterns in relation to this government. Particularly of concern is that we are seeing a multiparty delivery of the same old politics voted out in the 2024 elections,” he said.

“Political parties horse-traded on how they would vote on the Phala Phala issue as part of their negotiations. Parties once said we need a smaller cabinet, but now we form part of the biggest cabinet in South African history.

“The Bela Act has been passed, the NHI is moving swiftly and, believe it or not, people are breathing life back into the Secrecy Bill in 2024. Cadre deployment continues unabated. The opposition now participates in it, with memos asking for leniency on minimum standards required to appoint people. You have a justice minister implicated in the VBS saga giving the president a pass on his Phala Phala saga.”

He also accused ministers in the GNU of taking credit for work that isn't theirs.

“We are seeing short term gains of claiming credit for things that do not belong here. That something happens while you are here doesn't mean it happens because of you.”

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