Faizel Patel – 17/09/2020
As the country moves to level one of the COVID-19 lockdown which is expected to jolt the economy to life, Wits University senior lecturer Lumkile Mondi says while the move is welcomed, there are a number of ministers in South Africa who are not fit for purpose and who should be reshuffled by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
President Ramaphosa on Wednesday night announced that South Africa has now weathered the Coronavirus’ fierce and destructive storm and will from Sunday midnight move to alert level one.
Ramaphosa in addressing the way forward for our country’s economic recovery, removed most of the restrictions that were in effect over the last five months.
While many will be elated that the country has possibly seen the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic and South Africa went with hats in hand asking for money from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the UK and US, these billions in international loans do not come cheaply.
Mondi says the challenge Ramaphosa faces is whether he can institute a government reshuffle to revive the economy given that some of his ministers are not fit for purpose.
“We are worried that without a capable state, that even though the agreement between businesses, labour and government have been ushered, it could be undermined by an incapable, ineffective corrupt regime, because that has not changed much under Ramaphosa.”
Mondi named some of the ministers who have been found lacking in their duties and responsibilities to the country.
“We know the minister of telecoms is not fit for purpose. We know the minister of defence is extremely unreliable giving his chommies in Luthuli House a hitch on a state plane. So there are those that cannot represent a constitutional democracy or effectively deliver on the constitutional mandate of South Africa.”
Lumkile says there must be faster implementation of the reforms and restructuring of state owned enterprises adding that, if Finance Minister Tito Mboweni and Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan can deliver on these goals, the country will be able to service the “lions of loans” that South Africa was granted.
Listen to the interview with Lumkile Mondi
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