Deputy Minister of Basic Education Reginah Mhaule has laid bare the political agony of serving under a Democratic Alliance (DA) minister, warning that the African National Congress (ANC)’s gradual loss of political might has left its leaders increasingly powerless in a government shared with their traditional adversaries.
In a candid address to ANC members in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, this week, Mhaule described her experience. She serves as deputy to DA minister Siviwe Gwarube, whose party has repeatedly challenged policies championed by the ANC.
Her remarks offered a rare glimpse into the ideological tensions simmering beneath President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Government of National Unity (GNU), where politicians who spent decades fighting one another for power are now expected to govern together.
READ MORE: Coming to terms with the GNU reality
“I’m a deputy minister to an opposition minister. Ask me how painful what we are facing is up there,” Mhaule told ANC members, switching between siSwati and English.
“It tells you that when we lose this power gradually, we end up not having a say.”
ANC pays the price of losing its majority
Mhaule’s remarks come more than two years after the ANC lost its outright parliamentary majority in the May 2024 general elections, forcing the former liberation movement into an unprecedented power-sharing arrangement with the DA and several smaller political parties.
The ANC secured just 40.18% of the national vote and 159 of the National Assembly’s 400 seats, ending three decades of uninterrupted majority rule.
The DA emerged as the second-largest party with 87 seats, giving the two parties a combined 246 seats and enough parliamentary muscle to sustain Ramaphosa’s presidency.
But the political marriage came at a price.
When Ramaphosa announced his expanded Cabinet in June 2024, the ANC retained 20 of the 32 ministerial positions, while the DA secured six. The remaining portfolios went to smaller GNU partners.
Among the portfolios handed to the DA was Basic Education, placing Gwarube in charge of a department in which Mhaule, an ANC politician and former Mpumalanga education MEC, had already been serving as deputy minister.
The arrangement symbolised the ANC’s diminished political authority, with one of its experienced education leaders now serving under a minister drawn from a party that had long opposed aspects of its transformation agenda.
Mhaule suggested that the political consequences extended beyond Cabinet appointments to the ANC’s ability to defend legislation introduced during its years of uninterrupted rule.
“That’s why all the progressive laws that were created by the ANC are under litigation in the courts,” she said.
“They are there in court due to the same people we are sharing power with. The same people we are in bed with.”
GNU partners fight over ANC policies
Her remarks appeared to reference, among other disputes, the DA’s opposition to the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act and the National Health Insurance Act, both of which have generated bitter disagreements within the GNU.
The BELA Act, in particular, placed Gwarube at the centre of a political confrontation over school admissions and language policies, with the ANC arguing that the legislation was necessary to advance transformation while the DA raised concerns about school governing bodies’ powers.
The tensions have not been confined to education.
The DA has also challenged the ANC’s approach to healthcare reform, black economic empowerment and fiscal policy, while the 2025 national budget dispute saw the governing partners clash over proposed VAT increases.
The persistent public disagreements have also tested Ramaphosa’s authority over his multiparty executive.
READ MORE: President Cyril Ramaphosa warns GNU ministers to stop claiming party wins
The competing political agendas have also fuelled questions about whether GNU partners are genuinely committed to collective governance or merely using the arrangement to advance their respective electoral ambitions.
ANC and DA battle for political control
Mhaule warned that allowing others to gain further electoral ground would deepen the ANC’s political vulnerability.
“History also tells us that when we lose a municipality, especially a metro, we are clearing a pathway for others to take the entire province,” she said.
“Let’s protect Mbombela under the grip of the ANC.”
Her warning was directed at ANC members preparing for the 2026 local government elections, with the City of Mbombela emerging as an important political battleground in Mpumalanga.
She also accused political opponents of exploiting divisions within the ANC to weaken the organisation from within.
“These people campaign amongst our own people within the ANC in order to secure votes,” she said.
READ MORE: ‘Political parties in GNU are not sincere to South African voters’
“Then they elevate one person to a higher position with the intention of destroying him or her so they can eventually take over. We are their milking cows.”
Her comments highlighted the contradiction confronting the ANC as it approaches the municipal elections: cooperating with the DA in national government while attempting to prevent the same party from capturing municipalities and provincial political influence.
Political marriage strained by power struggles
The GNU was established in June 2024 after the ANC failed to secure the 201 seats required for an outright National Assembly majority.
Although the arrangement was presented as a commitment to national stability, inclusive governance and economic recovery, its formation followed difficult negotiations over Cabinet representation and control of key portfolios.
The ANC retained the presidency and strategically important portfolios such as Finance, Police, Defence and International Relations.
The political friction subsequently prompted the establishment of mechanisms to resolve disagreements between GNU partners.
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For Mhaule, the experience of serving inside that arrangement has become a warning about what the ANC stands to lose if its electoral decline continues.
“Let us protect the African National Congress. We have been prophesied that once we lose this election, it’s over with us,” she told the gathering.
“Let us refuse to give them this power, comrades. Let’s refuse to give them Mbombela.”
- Deputy Minister of Basic Education Reginah Mhaule, an ANC member, serves under DA minister Siviwe Gwarube, highlighting tensions within the Government of National Unity (GNU).
- The ANC lost its parliamentary majority in the May 2024 elections, securing 40.18% of the vote and 159 of 400 National Assembly seats, leading to a power-sharing agreement with the DA and smaller parties.
- The ANC retained 20 of 32 ministerial positions in the June 2024 Cabinet, while the DA received six, including the Basic Education portfolio headed by Gwarube.
- Mhaule warned that the ANC's diminishing influence has led to progressive laws being challenged in court by GNU partners, specifically referencing disputes over the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act and the National Health Insurance Act.
- Mhaule urged ANC members to defend their political strongholds, particularly Mbombela, ahead of the 2026 local government elections, warning against internal divisions and DA advances.
