While opposition parties hit back hard at the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its failures since democracy in the debate on last week’s State of the Nation Address (SoNA), on Tuesday, GOOD Party secretary-general Brett Herron took a more diplomatic approach and said to fix South Africa, it does not need to be re-divided.

Delivering his post-SoNA debate speech, Herron agreed with President Cyril Ramaphosa that South Africa was fundamentally different when compared with the apartheid era.

However, he noted that since democracy there had been “feeble” efforts to right the wrongs of the past, leaving many people still living in extreme poverty. He attributed this to mediocre State management.

He said South Africa’s constitutional values should be used to fix the injustices of the past and unite people who have historically been divided.

“We don’t believe that the fabric of South African society can tolerate mediocre State management for much longer before ripping apart. Nor do we believe that in order to fix South Africa we have to re-divide it, which is the essential position of many in the opposition benches. What we need is a cohort of capable leaders steeped in the human values of humility, integrity and community,” Herron said.

He stressed the importance of using social security to deal with poverty and inequality and pointed out that with many people driven to desperation by poverty, the State had failed to meet its Section 27 obligations to provide social security.

Herron said the party was disappointed that Ramaphosa did not commit to implanting a basic income grant.

“As poverty becomes increasingly entrenched, the State must implement a basic income system that, at least, meets the lower bound poverty line. South Africa will be unable to create jobs for as long as we are trapped in an economic growth crisis.  We need an annual growth rate of 5% or 6% to seriously address the crisis of unemployment when our population growth rate has exceeded 19% over the past decade. We need the basics for growth: stable and reliable electricity, functioning transport networks and functional digital communications connections,” Herron said.

While GOOD welcomed the President’s commitment to renewable energy amid an electricity crisis, it criticised the independent power producer procurement processes for being too slow.

It also hit back against the lack of reskilling programmes for coal workers, as government embraced the green economy and a just transition.

Herron noted that there had been slow implementation of State infrastructure projects, as well as a contraction in the construction industry, which he said could be a driver for job creation.

He called for a coherent and inclusive economic growth plan.

“Without inclusive economic growth, the democratic values and freedoms South Africa has achieved will be overshadowed by suffering on a magnitude that betrays those values and our Constitution,” Herron said.