The ANC is set to press ahead with a planned reset of the Government of National Unity amid disapproval and panic to allow for more unity of progressive black parties.
The party vowed to intensify talks with other progressive political parties, inside and outside the coalition given the tension with the DA.
Its weekend meeting of the National Executive Committee, the highest structure did not discuss the GNU having recently adopted a motion to expand the government of national unity. The NEC dealt instead with a plan to drastically improve performance of municipalities which culminated with a roll call meeting attended by more than 5000 councillors at FNB Stadium in Soweto.
Mbalula confirmed to Newsnote that a move is already underway to talk to other political parties.
“Now we are busy with turning around local government to give our people better services. Nothing has changed. As we announced previously that the ANC decided the GNU button must be reset and that is what we are doing. We know many people will make it about the DA, even the DA itself will do because they have this thing you know, they think they’re in a coalition with the ANC, we rejected a grand coalition and said ‘let’s bring everyone together’ so it’s not about whether DA approves or not, its happening,” said Mbalula when asked for an update.
He said the intention was not to boot out the DA but to avoid being held at ransom by the former opposition as it did during the budget.
“Coalitions in their nature are not perfect but you can’t have the kind of chaos we had with the budget and then is fine, you can’t. And then you don’t want Bel Act, Affirmative Action, Expropriation Act, its not what we can sacrifice so we’ve got to say what do we do and we’re talking to everyone inside GNU and outside,” he said.
After addressing the thousands of councillors essentially giving them marching orders of what they need to achieve in the remainder of their term of office in councils, President Cyril Ramaphosa sped off to Benoni where he attended the Central Committee (CC) meeting of the largest trade union federation Cosatu that had expressed serious disapproval of the inclusion of the DA’s inclusion in the GNU.
Cosatu Central Committee members sang “Asiy’funi iGNU [We don’t want the GNU] with the labour federation’s President Zingisa Losi taking to the podium to among others question its alliance partner’s ability to transform South Africa while being actively opposed by a supposed coalition partner (the DA).
“There is no transformation that can take place when you are a 40% or worse less party. you are challenged at every turn by people you said you are working with. they [DA] are anti transformation and they don’t hide it,” said Losi.
Also attending the meeting was Solly Mapaila, the firebrand General Secretary of the South African Communist Party who has been consistent in his criticism of the GNU arguing the ANC should instead work with left leaning parties, particularly the EFF which opted to not be part of the coalition after failing to consider the former liberation movement to not include the DA and the Freedom Front Plus.
ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane, who alos heads the party’s International Relations sub-Committee warned that without the discipline and a shared purpose among the parties involved, the Government of National Unity (GNU) risks becoming unworkable.
Mokonyane singled out the behaviour of the Democratic Alliance (DA) as the biggest threat, bluntly labelling them “the most irresponsible party.”
“They misbehave. Remember, they were going to oppose the budget. They try to address issues like foreign policy while wanting to play a dual role of being both in opposition and in government,” she said.
While it is not clear which parties would eventually join the coalition, the ANC is expected to talk to all of them who are represented in parliament including those within the GNU that are widely expected to be given more responsibility as part of the attempt to dilute the DA’s influence. The DA previously threatened to walkout of the coalition when Ramaphosa fired one of its leaders, Andrew Whitefield who was serving as Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition for travelling abroad without the president’s approval.
Whitefield went on the trip to Washington DC as part of a DA “delegation” led by the party’s then foreign affairs spokesperson Emma Powel during which they are widely believed to have preached the misinformation of so-called “race-based laws” inviting more adverse action from the US Donald Trump administration. After Ramaphosa ignored its ultimatum, the DA announced at the time that its Federal Executive had decided not to quit the coalition claiming market reaction would be devastating if it left, a claim aimed at blackmailing the ANC.
The ANC roll call of all its councillors across over 250 municipalities in the country was attended by thousands who were to go out and turn around their municipalities warning that the people of South Africa wanted and deserved better.