The DA in Gauteng has warned that it would pull out of the provincial government of unity if Premier Panyaza Lesufi unilaterally proceeded to announce his cabinet without their blessings.
The outburst from the DA was in response to information that Lesufi was today planning to announce members of his executive council and that only three portfolios would be allocated to the DA.
Sources privy to discussions said the two sides were close to reaching a boiling point yesterday as Lesufi was racing against time to announce his provincial cabinet by today, and he was daring to go ahead “even if it meant fielding an all-ANC line-up”.
At issue was the proportionality of executive posts allocated to parties and the portfolios being agreed to, and the DA was adamant that without its buy-in, whatever announcement Lesufi made “should exclude the DA”.
“According to the DA, if Lesufi does his own thing, the ANC should make it clear that the DA will not be part of the coalition or executive,” said a deep-throat, adding that the DA, represented by Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga, threatened to pull out of the unity government.
The DA accused the ANC of failing to sign a draft agreement prepared for their last meeting, which meant that the discussions informing the deal had no status. The said deal stipulates that the DA would get three portfolios, but the blue party insisted on four seats.
The DA insists that such an agreement would reflect both the will of the voters and the need for broader inclusion, and it would be in line with the “statement of intent” signed by leaders of both parties for the government of national unity.
“Therefore, the discussion must start with the ANC having six seats and the other five allocated to the DA. Both parties would then sacrifice their seats to the three other parties in the unity government, like the IFP, except for parties with one or two MPLs,” insiders said.
Further, Sunday World heard that Lesufi was supposed to consult with Msimanga before inviting any other parties to the government.
On the ANC front, insiders said the original agreement had always been that Lesufi would allocate three portfolios to the DA, which was the basis for the election of the premier, speaker, and deputy speaker posts.
However, the agreement was scuppered by the DA at the national level, who wanted the ANC to retain five seats, the DA four, and one seat for any other partner in the unity government.
Sunday World understands that after internal consultation, Lesufi was given the mandate to announce his executive today in line with the original agreement that would see the DA get three seats.
Sources said there were also pending talks on the legislature posts of chief whip, deputy chief whip and the make-up of portfolio committees.
Both the ANC and DA in the province could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.
It is about time that everyone accepts GNU and stops squabbling about who is going to rule! Do you guys know what national unity means???