It is often said that the more things change, the more they stay the same - and to some extent this is true.
In an evolving world, change is a necessity and is accompanied sometimes by pangs of anxiety and the eternal “what if” questions that take up residence rent-free in our minds.
As South Africans, we went through a period of transition with July 30 marking exactly a month since President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the Cabinet of the seventh administration under the Government of National Unity (GNU).
The journey to the seventh administration began at the ballot box at the May 29 elections that resulted in no outright winner at the polls for the political parties.
While citizens wanted their voices to be heard through the ballot, all of us were wondering what the future would hold for a democratic dispensation that was not run by a political party that had obtained an outright majority at the polls. In the immediate future, fears of possible mayhem and violence post the elections have not materialised.
Setting the ball in motion in the proverbial winds of change, was the holding of the first Cabinet Lekgotla where the Ministers, the Deputy President and President sat down to map out the programme of action of government.
A few days later on 18 July, the President delivered the Opening of Parliament Address (OPA) where he outlined the new administration’s key priority areas. These are: driving inclusive growth and job creation, reducing poverty and tackling the high cost of living as well as building a capable, ethical and developmental state.
In announcing these priority areas, the President appealed to the larger South African family to behave as weaver birds who give their all to build and cooperate. He has called on all South Africans to remain committed to pursuing the path of cooperation, growth and inclusion.
The new and returning Ministers and Deputy Ministers have hit the ground running in their respective portfolios having tabled their respective Budget Votes that concluded with the President’s reply to The Presidency vote on July 24.
And while we all continue to learn the names and faces of the new executive, what is clear is that the work of government continues unhindered, despite having some new captains at the helm of government departments.
The changes have not brought about angst and instability among our people. Instead, the period between the elections up until the setting up of the seventh administration to date, has been characterised by stability we should not take for granted.
And perhaps quite fittingly the changes are taking place in a year that the country celebrates 30 years of freedom and democracy. The change not only tests the strength of our hard-won democracy, but also cements our freedom of choice in who we want to represent us in government and other areas of everyday life.
That freedom of choice has not been muffled or tampered with but has been taken seriously by the government of the day.
Attesting to this, the first citizen in replying to the Presidency Budget Vote said: “Above all, let us show that government will work for the people and that we can create a new era of growth and prosperity in our country.”
While it is still early days for the GNU, what has been clear for all to see is that there has been a sense of continuity in the operations of government, which is crucial in the creation of a better life for all as well as moving the country forward.
Just as human beings are constantly growing and evolving, change is constant but what remains is that the founding provisions of the Constitution of the republic founded on universal adult suffrage, a national common voters roll, regular elections and a multi-party system of democratic government, to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness among some of its values, still rings true, albeit the speed bumps along the way.
The Constitution as the supreme law of the land which cannot be superseded by any other law or government action, still lives and breathes for all of South Africa’s people.
Its supremacy has not changed and in an era of change, may its tenets to put South Africa’s people first, never fall. -SAnews.gov.za
Neo Semono is a Features Editor at SAnews.gov.za
