Now that it is a part of the government of national unity (GNU), the Patriotic Alliance (PA) asserts that it would not allow Helen Zille, the chairperson of the DA’s federal council, to bully it.
This comes after Zille said she has written to the ANC secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, to enquire about allowing the PA into the GNU before consulting other GNU member parties.
The PA secretary-general, Chinelle Stevens, stated that the party was interested in knowing the ANC’s reaction to ascertain whether Zille was really in charge of the GNU.
She said the GNU consultations and discussions were still in progress, meaning that the GNU is still being constituted.
According to Stevens, Zille should wait until the GNU talks are concluded, at the very least, before speaking up, as the PA will not consider her opinions until then.
Stevens advised Zille not to assume that just because she signed an agreement with the ANC, it meant she was in the lead, saying the PA turned a blind eye to its differences with the DA in an effort to put South African citizens first.
“What Helen Zille clearly fails to grasp is that the PA also signed a statement of intent to form part of the GNU on the same day the DA did, and there can be no possible reasons for the ANC to have to ask for the DA’s permission to include willing parties in a grand coalition that can govern the country with or without the DA,” said Stevens.
Stevens emphasised that the party would continue to conduct campaigns in the Western Cape for the benefit of its members, stating that the DA’s assumption that the province belonged to it alone led to the battle with the PA, but that the PA would still prevail.
“To allow the DA to dictate to the ANC who it can and cannot invite into its coalition government will send only one message: that Helen Zille finally has the entire ANC exactly where she wants it — doing her bidding.
“Helen Zille can only be satisfied when she is obeyed without question. Power has turned her into the very thing she once fought against — deranged demagoguery.”
