SOWETAN SAYS | New government must work immediately

The results of the recent elections have demonstrated that voters are growing disillusioned with political parties making promises but failing to keep them.

This was illustrated by the number of votes that each of the main political parties received, all unable to receive more than 50% of the vote.

The elections have produced no outright winner, with political parties now being forced to work together to govern SA for the next five years. We welcome the fact that many parties have so far demonstrated maturity and buried their ideological differences to elect a new parliament.

Last week’s election of Cyril Ramaphosa as president, Thoko Didiza as speaker of the National Assembly and Annelie Lotriet as her deputy, heralded this new era of coalition politics nationally where parties worked as a pact to form a new administration.

This represented an enormous step forward from uncertainty that took hold of the country since election results were announced two weeks ago. Now that the seventh parliament has been put in place and MPs have been sworn in, the real test of all the pledges made by political parties to the voters begin.  

There is no longer time to waste as people of SA expect their parliament to get down to the business of representing them without the unnecessary drama that preceded the National Assembly elections.

This week, Ramaphosa is expected to be inaugurated as the president, a process that will set in motion the appointment of the executive to run the country until the next elections. Ramaphosa has pledged to work with other parties to govern the country.

Once he has appointed ministers into his cabinet, they must also hit the ground running. The vast majority of South Africans are crying out for an economy that works and where jobs are created. They also expect that the new government knows what needs to be done to deal with the high levels of crime, fix our ailing infrastructure and reduce poverty levels.

The success or failure of the new administration will be judged by how well or badly it does on many of the pressing issues that influenced voters during last month’s poll. We hope that those charged with the responsibility of moving this country forward will not disappoint.