The newly formed Government of National Unity (GNU) is teetering on the brink of collapse as the ANC and DA are failing to find common ground on ministries that should be shared among the agreement partners.
So serious are the discords that Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi contemplated announcing an all-ANC member provincial cabinet of ministers after failing to reach an agreement with the DA on how the provincial cabinet should be constituted. (See story on page 6).
Sunday World was reliably informed that trade-offs for positions in the ANC-led GNU, which includes the DA and IFP as the main partners, were off to a bumpy start, with the demands placed on the table proving uncomfortable to accommodate.
GNU insiders told Sunday World that at stake is the trade-off between the portfolios of police and defence in the security cluster, as well as between finance and trade and industry in the economic cluster. Sources said the ANC was being pushed to choose only two, and the remainder would be taken by the DA.
But the ANC refused to budge.
“Justice, SAPS, SANDF, which are critical ministries in the security cluster, cannot go to the DA. Also, Finance, Department of Trade and Industry are off limits,” said the person who did not want to be named because they are not allowed to speak to the media.
On the other hand, said the person, the DA believes by refusing to share some of these critical ministries, the ANC was giving them a raw deal.
“The arrogance of the ANC will collapse this GNU because the ANC cannot continue to behave like they attained an outright majority. For this GNU to work, sacrifices must be made,” said the person.
Also, according to the insider, the DA believes “the best way to achieve the trade-off is to start with a scenario where the cabinet reflects the proportional shares of seats held by each party in parliament”.
To create space for other parties, equitable allocations of both parties would be diluted proportionately, the person added.
The success of the GNU was also tied to similar agreements being concluded in the two hung provinces, but so far only KwaZulu-Natal has been ahead of the pack, while the talks in Gauteng appeared to collapse.
Internally, the ANC was facing a pushback from its alliance partners, some of whom have openly rejected the possibility of any working relationship with the DA. Traditionally, the ANC could accommodate candidates of the alliance partners in cabinet appointments, as well as the geographic representation of its provincial structures.
Although Ramaphosa has at least 30 days to make a decision, in the past, cabinet appointments were confirmed on the first Sunday following the president’s inauguration.
While the most optimistic expected that Ramaphosa would exercise his prerogative and announce a cabinet anytime from today in order to give momentum to the already evident positive response from the markets, others suggest it will take a few more days for him to be ready, unless the parties find each other.
On the sidelines, ANC negotiators have been in a marathon of meetings to try and get as many parties under the GNU roof as possible; they have even abandoned face-to-face meetings and instead opted for virtual discussions.
On Friday night, the new kid on the block, Rise Mzansi, which has two seats in parliament, agreed, like the UDM the day before, to join the GNU.
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said yesterday that it made sense to add more political parties, and even former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Party should come on board.
“I wish, as I have also insisted on the ANC, that it would not be a bad idea for Ramaphosa to pick up the phone and speak directly to Zuma because the MK Party has many voters, amounting to over 2-million. You cannot just ignore a person like that.”
He said that the success of the GNU in 1994 was preceded by face-to-face discussions with the late National Party leader, FW de Klerk, “and they succeeded”.
He said the ANC was understandably racing against time but warned that the party should also have a Plan B in case the DA was not happy with the executive positions allocated to them, which would necessitate that the party reconsider its position on parties like the MK Party and the EFF.
“If the DA says no, then Plan B must be ready. That is why I say it might take a bit of time, if I were Ramaphosa, to finalise the cabinet. I would say give me a month or so because I would not want to leave anyone outside. At least if I leave anyone outside, it must be their choice, having exhausted everything to try and bring them on board.”
Holomisa said: “What the ANC should be doing now is call the EFF and MK for the last round, and say, ‘guys we have heard your position on this one and that one, but can’t you review your positions because we want to form government and we cannot underestimate your constituencies.’ I’m sure they can find each other.”
