The first biannual cabinet lekgotla, attended by ministers, deputy ministers and directors-general, will set the tone for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address to be delivered in February.
The cabinet lekgotla, which begins on Wednesday, comes days after the ANC held its own lekgotla, at which the electricity crisis, high unemployment and the rising cost of living dominated discussions between the ANC, its alliance partners, and ANC-appointed people in government and state agencies.
The worsening energy crisis, the state of the economy and safety and security are expected to be high on the agenda of the cabinet lekgotla.
Market watchers have flagged the energy crisis as one of the big factors harming SA’s economic prospects. The Reserve Bank calculated that load-shedding will shave off 2 percentage points growth in 2023. This means growth is now expected at 0.3% instead of 2.3%.
On Monday the DA and ANC are back in the high court in Johannesburg, where the opposition party is asking the court to compel the ANC to obtain and expose complete records and minutes from the ANC’s cadre deployment committee dating back to January 1 2013, when Ramaphosa became its chair.
The case follows an earlier separate application by the DA to have the ANC’s cadre deployment policy declared unconstitutional by the court.
“Despite now opportunistically claiming that cadre deployment somehow constitutes free speech, the ANC has been hell-bent on keeping the records requested by the DA secret, leaving us with no choice but to approach the court to force the ANC to reveal full details of how cadre deployment promoted state capture while Ramaphosa was chair of the committee,” says DA public service & administration spokesperson Leon Schreiber.
Ekurhuleni, one of Gauteng’s metros, is set to hold a council meeting on Monday where two motions of no confidence against DA councillors Raymond Dhlamini, who is the speaker, and council whip Khetha Shandu are on the agenda.
Mpho Phalatse
The council meeting follows a motion of no confidence which led to the ousting of Mpho Phalatse as the mayor of Johannesburg last week.
Johannesburg, with the cities of Ekurhuleni and Tshwane, have been led by DA-led multiparty coalitions since the 2021 municipal elections, when the ANC’s support fell below 50% for the first time.
A previous attempt by the opposition parties in Ekurhuleni to oust the DA-led municipality failed when an agreement between the EFF and the ANC failed to materialise.
Preparations to host the joint sitting of the National Council of Provinces and the National Assembly at which Ramaphosa will deliver the state of the nation address on February 9 are at an advanced stage, parliament says.
Members of both houses remain on recess until the opening of the legislative arm of government. But several committees will be holding meetings this week.
They include the section 194 inquiry into suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office. This week Caroline Zulu-Sokoni, Mkhwebane’s first witness to appear before the inquiry, is set to testify.
The portfolio committee on home affairs will on Wednesday consider submissions on the Electoral Amendment Bill, which provides for independent candidates to stand for national and provincial elections.
Correction: January 30 2023
An earlier version of this story stated that The Reserve Bank has calculated that load-shedding slashed 2.3 percentage points off the growth rate in the third quarter of 2022; the Bank in fact calculated that load-shedding will shave off 2 percentage points growth in 2023.
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