Govt must update public on promises made, suggests Mbalula

CAPE TOWN – African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Fikile Mbalula has urged the government to engage communities on updates regarding the fulfilment of promises.

This follows President Cyril Ramaphosa's promise to build a smart city in Lanseria during his 2020 State of the Nation Address (SONA).

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Ramaphosa also promised high-speed trains between big cities to fast-track economic growth.

Mbalula has been addressing the media in Cape Town on Saturday, following Ramaphosa's Opening of Parliament Address (OPA) on Thursday.

He said the smart city programme is being implemented and the government is at an advanced procurement stage.

"The ministries that are there must communicate the government programme, including the GCIS. Government has been very weak in relation to that. 

“The only thing that government has been doing effectively is to communicate post-Cabinet decisions, yet the society you serve requires cluster briefings."

Meanwhile, Mbalula told Eyewitness News that all government programmes reflected by Ramaphosa during his address will be implemented despite some opposition.

"But the fact of the matter is that the statement that the president has presented is the programme of action of government, and that's what we welcome, and that programme of action largely, it's based on the ANC's six priorities."

Mbalula added that Ramaphosa is an ANC leader and that it should not be surprising that his address on Thursday reflected ANC policies, despite the Government of National Unity (GNU) collective.