The IFP’s Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi told the National Assembly that President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government have tried to do their best with the economic reconstruction and recovery plan unveiled last week.
FILE: Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) founder Mangosuthu Buthelezi. Picture: EWN
CAPE TOWN – Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) founder Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi has appealed for political agendas to be set aside as the country tries to emerge from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Buthelezi told the National Assembly that President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government have tried to do their best with the economic reconstruction and recovery plan unveiled last week.
Parties are debating the plan during a hybrid sitting of the National Assembly.
A call from Parliament’s oldest MP, Mangosuthu Buthelezi: “Like a country at war, we must put aside political agendas in order to rebuild.”
But Buthelezi questioned whether the plan was achievable, especially a growth rate of 3% of GDP in the near future and whether obstacles to implementation had been removed.
Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Groenewald dismissed the plan as a rehash of old promises.
“There’s nothing new in this recovery plan that the honourable president has not said before, since he became the president in 2018.”
The Democratic Alliance (DA)’s Dennis Ryder suggested that Ramaphosa’s cabinet ministers weren’t carrying out his instructions and demanded that he take charge.
“You are the president, preside. And let there be consequences for those who do not do your bidding. Shuffle the Cabinet if you need, to assert yourself, but more importantly, to save the nation.”
WATCH: MPs debate Ramaphosa’s COVID-19 economic recovery plan
