GNU ‘best tactical option’, Ramaphosa tells ANC alliance partners

ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated that a government of national unity (GNU) was the best tactical option for the ANC to take the country forward after the party lost its outright majority during the May 29 general elections.

Ramaphosa was providing his political overview at the beginning of the party’s three-day national executive committee (NEC) lekgotla in Johannesburg on Sunday. The lekgotla took place after a three-day meeting of the NEC.

In attendance at the lekgotla was the leadership of the SACP, an ANC alliance partner which has previously slammed the party’s decision to include the DA and the Freedom Front Plus in the GNU, and preferred “a minority government with forces such as the EFF”.

Ramaphosa acknowledged the role played by the SACP in the struggle against apartheid, including the leading role it played in advancing the principle of nonracialism in theory and practice as the first political organisation to organise on a nonracial basis in South Africa.

He said the lekgotla was being held in the aftermath of an election outcome that has produced a seismic shift in politics where, for the first time in 30 years, the ANC lost its mandate to govern alone at a national level and its share of the vote fell below 50% in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Northern Cape.

Over three days, the NEC deliberated extensively on the reasons for the dramatic decline, its implications and the actions it needs to take to restore support within society.

“In many senses, we have entered uncharted territory,” Ramaphosa said.

“We have suffered a strategic setback that has far-reaching consequences and implications for how we are going to conduct the struggle for the fundamental transformation of South Africa. 

“One of the implications of this new situation is that the ANC can no longer govern alone. Faced with this stark reality the NEC decided the ANC should give leadership to take the country forward by inviting all parties that would subscribe and agree to a set of principles and a transformative minimum programme to form a government.”

Ramaphosa said the NEC meeting, which started on Thursday, unanimously reaffirmed the position that the GNU was “the best tactical option” that has the greatest possibility to improve the lives of the people of South Africa.

“We did not arrive at the forming of a GNU easily. It is a decision we took fully aware of the risks and opportunities inherent in the option. We firmly believe this was the best way to form a government that is stable, effective and able to advance the interests of the South African people as a whole.”

Ramaphosa acknowledged that some of the nine political parties in the GNU are “fundamentally opposed” to the ANC’s perspective on transformation of the economy and society.

“But that is the nature of governments of national unity all over the world and across different historical periods and geographic specificities.

“They bring together parties from across the political spectrum, for example at moments when a nation faces national conflict or deep socioeconomic challenges that can only be resolved through co-operation.”

A GNU is different to a typical coalition, he said, and is not a forum of allied or like-minded parties.

The first fundamental decision the ANC took was to accept the outcome of the elections and that the people of South Africa made it clear they were impatient with political bickering and the endless blame game among politicians and political parties.

“They want us to put their needs and aspirations first and they want us to work together for the sake of our country.

“We have heard our people and will work with our alliance partners and every sector that is willing to contribute to solutions to the challenges our country faces as we transition to a new decade of freedom.”

The party said it remained firmly committed to the advance of the National Democratic Revolution and the achievement of a united, nonracial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa, said Ramaphosa.

He said the lekgotla will determine the work that needs to be done to build a strong, growing and inclusive economy and how to achieve the task of democratic renewal and socioeconomic transformation, and to assess the efficacy of the master plans that government and other stakeholders have developed over the years to enhance growth, increase investment, create jobs and foster transformation.

DA federal chair Helen Zille told the Sunday Times her party’s decision to work with the ANC in the GNU came “when we realised we had to prevent a coalition of the MK Party, EFF and the ANC”, which she said would have been a total disaster for the economy.

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