After 440 Days Zuma Needs To Separate Minister Fighting About Whose Draft Policy Needs to be Developed

Here after almost a year and a half no economic policy document and ministers scrapping, while the poor and unemployed wait. Again is it just Zuma's inability to run government or does he owe too much to too many?

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What happened

President Jacob Zuma prevented a potentially explosive clash between his economic cluster ministers, triggered by the long-standing feud of who is in charge of driving the economic growth path.

At the cabinet lekgotla this week, the old differences between Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, resurfaced, until Zuma suggested a special cabinet meeting to sort out the economic roadmap.

Briefing reporters after the lekgotla, Zuma admitted that the economic growth path issue had to be shelved, but he gave no reasons.

And Why The Lack of Progress

Asked whether the Thabo Mbeki administration's programme would be abandoned, Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane said, "This is no carbon copy of the other programme".

A senior ANC official said the Zuma administration behaved as if it "just took over" from a different party in the 2009 general elections.

But academic Mashupye Maserumule, writing in The Zuma Administration, Critical Challenges, warned "it would be dangerous for the Zuma administration to consolidate the Mbeki administration's strategic trajectory in the pursuit of a developmental state agenda".

"The Zuma administration... should carve a strategic governance niche within which to embed its new policy orientation.