EDITORIAL | Ramaphosa’s opening of parliament a true test for all political parties

For the first time since the ANC took control of government in 1994, its president will have to deliver an opening of parliament address that encompasses policies from other parties after its dismal showing in the 2024 elections. 

It is also the first time that the DA, the country’s biggest opposition party since overtaking the National Party in the early 1990s, will be standing hand in hand with Ramaphosa's ANC as leaders in government. 

Just a few months ago, DA leader John Steenhuisen vowed to unseat the ANC and put in its place a coalition of like-minded parties dubbed the multiparty charter. 

But this all changed when the DA's partners in the IFP, ActionSA and Freedom Front Plus failed to reach the required numbers needed to install a new government. 

In a previous interview with the Sunday Times, Steenhuisen had acknowledged the DA was prepared to work with an ANC of Ramaphosa, which he said would lead a reform agenda. 

His statements and that of his colleague and party matriarch Helen Zille had left a door ajar for a possible marriage between the two parties. 

This marriage would mean that former president Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe Party — viewed as the disrupter in the recent elections — would take up the DA's position as the main opposition in parliament. 

This party set tongues wagging in December 2023 after Zuma's endorsement was critical in the ANC's defeat in the polls, none more so than in KwaZulu-Natal, where the ANC was left limping into a new government formation having won only 17% of the vote.

In a recent interview with TimesLIVE, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula made it clear that it was only Zuma who was capable of defeating the ANC. In this respect, it cannot be argued that the former ANC president and veteran had succeeded.

Zuma, a master technician, at least in terms of ANC politics, pulled another genie from his bottle when he installed former Western Cape judge president John Hlophe as party leader inparliament. 

Hlophe, who was impeached having attempted to protect Zuma from persecution, is expected to bring a level of status and strategic insight to a party that was desperately clinging on to Zuma for credibility. 

The former judge president, well-versed in law, will have to convince South Africans as parties prepare for the local government elections in 2026 that the MK Party is capable of assuming strategic positions in lawmaking and the politics of parliament. 

The MK Party has been adamant that it would not go into a coalition of any form with an ANC led by Ramaphosa. But in parliament, Hlophe will have to engage the ANC in key matters that relate to the party's constituency to stretch its lifespan beyond these elections. 

The third-biggest party outside the GNU collective, the EFF, comes into this administration having suffered losses in the polls. 

Its popularity in parliament came with its combative attitude towards the Zuma regime, but the novelty of its disruptive nature in parliament slowly dwindled after Zuma's term.

Its leader Julius Malema has been seen as an authoritarian with very little tolerance for dissent among his supporters in his caucus. 

With the elections having demonstrated to the EFF that it would need to change course to regain lost momentum, Malema has himself said that the EFF would need to be more measured in its approach to parliament this term. 

Malema surprised many when after the elections he said the EFF would display a more mature demeanour in parliament. 

The much-anticipated address by Ramaphosa is likely to encapsulate the same pomp and ceremony as seen in previous state of the nation addresses. 

Former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe are expected to attend the event while Zuma is said to be sitting this one out. 

Unlike previous years where the DA has shown disdain for the ANC by remaining seated as Ramaphosa enters the main hall to an imbongi, Steenhuisen and his caucus will likely cheer Ramaphosa on much like his comrades in the ANC. 

Ramaphosa is known for his polarising speechwriting with the maiden SONA address Thuma Mina and Tintswalo — his final speech as president of the sixth administration. The ANC president is also remembered for promising bullet trains and smart cities that he failed to deliver. 

This time, Ramaphosa will have to deliver a speech that must assure South Africans that the GNU will not be bogged down by its own interests, but those of South Africans. 

His biggest challenge is job creation and economic recovery. Ramaphosa's government has managed to turn the tide on load-shedding, but despite this, the International Monetary Fund sees South Africa’s economy growing only 0.9% this year and 1.2% next year.

Business Day reported that after load-shedding and logistics constraints prompted sharp downward revisions in January, the fund has not revised its forecasts since its April outlook, when it reduced its forecasts for 2024 and 2025 slightly but said the country's medium-term growth would average just 1.4%.

After years of persistent power blackouts which have crippled the economy, Ramaphosa’s macroeconomic reform agenda has received a nod from the banking sector.

A recent report by Business Day said that this was particularly in the energy and logistics sectors with Standard Bank saying that it does not expect Eskom’s improved operational performance to relapse.

Goolam Ballim, chief economist and head of research for Africa’s largest lender by assets, told clients at an investment conference on Friday that early improvement signs at Eskom and Transnet bode well for the economy, Business Day reported.

Speculation that the ANC would resist infusing policies of its coalition partners have lost flame. 

Steenhuisen on Wednesday said Ramaphosa was to announce a reform agenda for the seventh administration that, in many cases, is aligned with DA policy.

“I am glad to see that the DA’s presence in the GNU is strong and visible, and I trust that the president’s address will reflect the plurality of voices now in national government, and that he will commit himself wholeheartedly to this necessary policy shift,” Steenhuisen said.