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Ramaphosa pleads with political parties not to respond to the economic recovery plan with grand standing

Cyril Ramaphosa
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President Cyril Ramaphosa has pleaded with all political parties represented in Parliament not to respond to government’s Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan with “grand standing.”

Ramaphosa was responding to criticism by opposition benches during a virtual joint sitting of Parliament on the plan on Wednesday.

“And this is where we have been calling to all South Africans and prince (Mangosuthu) Buthelezi is absolutely right. This is not the time to grand stand. It is the time to close ranks as South Africans and work together to achieve common purpose. And our country is not alone in experiencing an economic crises of this depth and extent. Many countries around the world are experiencing exact the same problem.”

FF Plus reacts

There has been a general consensus from opposition parties in Parliament that the COVID-19 Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Plan presented by President Ramaphosa last week, entails nothing new.

Former IFP leader and MP, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, says the economic recovery plan might be absolutely unattainable, while the UDM says it lacks details of implementation.

FF Plus leader Pieter Groenewald says the plan will possibly fail due to government corruption and poor leadership.

“The corruption pandemic is even worse than the COVID-19 pandemic. Many calls were addressed to the honourable president asking him to open the economy, because of you don’t open the economy in time you going to pay a dear price, that’s exactly what happened. The government is inviting public partners but you want to be the project manager. That’s the problem.”

Parliament debates President Ramaphosa’s Economic Recovery Plan:

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