‘Lack of continuity in ANC’s manifesto stalling progress in govt programmes’

Political analyst Khanyi Magubane says the lack of continuity in the governing ANC’s manifesto is what is stalling progress in government programmes.

ANC Party President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier engaged with various stakeholders, including senior editors and academia, in Sandton, Johannesburg, to reflect on the party’s 2019 manifesto.

This is a buildup to the party’s review of the said manifesto that will be taking place tomorrow at the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto.

Magubane attended the engagement.

“We heard coming out of the session that it’s more difficult to gauge the ANC’s progress over a 5-year period. However, if you look at it on a more long-term basis, over a 30-year period, then we are able to gauge the process, but the election manifestos currently are not set up like that. So, I think that the ANC needs to take a look at the documentation it has produced over the years and try to produce an election manifesto that picks up from where this one of 2019 is leaving off. Let’s not continuously start new programmes over and over again,” says Magubane.

Magubane says the biggest miss in the governing ANC’s 2019 manifesto is its failure to bring down the cost of living in the country.

“People are continuously pushed under the breadline, and I think that the government, in its promises to create 275 000 jobs in the next five years, should create a simpler entry into the job market for new graduates that need work experience as well as the criteria for entering the job market. I think also in terms of lowering the government spending and also the government’s inability to effectively spend their budgets, I think that is where the big misses are.”

Ramaphosa engages with media and academics about ANC’s Manifesto Review launch