The ANC national working committee has kicked the can down the road on how it wants to “reset” the ANC’s relationship with the DA within the government of national unity.
This will involve redrafting of rules of engagement to supplement a docile statement of intent that parties signed before constituting the GNU. The hope is that if the DA is not willing to “behave”, it will kick itself out of the GNU. Many in the ANC, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, were riled by the DA’s decision not to vote for the budget last week. In an audio leaked to TimesLIVE, Ramaphosa said the DA defined itself outside the GNU by not voting for the budget.
A decision on whether the DA must be kicked out of the GNU is now deferred to the ANC national executive committee. This is the biggest test to face the GNU, with ActionSA voting with the ANC at the last minute.
The DA then instituted legal proceedings to review the constitutionality of the powers of the finance minister to gazette the VAT increase — something the ANC views as inimical to the spirit of co-operation among partners within the GNU. The reset button will most probably involve the inclusion of a clause in the agreement that GNU partners can’t litigate against each other or embarrass each other in the ways we have seen in the last nine months.
The ANC leadership is not confident to send the DA (with 87 seats in parliament) packing because replacing it with ActionSA, which has only six seats in parliament, will leave the ANC vulnerable on many fronts
Announcing the outcome of the NWC meeting that took place on Monday, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the party has decided to save the GNU, which must be read to mean to keep the DA within cabinet while changing rules of engagement. This, Mbalula explained, doesn’t mean the ANC is grovelling to anyone.
“We have agreed to [press the] reset button by way of ensuring the GNU in future has to be governed by rules, not just the statement of intent. We need rules that govern us as members of the GNU. The ANC does not have an absolute majority to govern. It works with other parties, as the largest political party. We also have a responsibility to listen and engage,” he said.
In truth, though, the ANC leadership is not confident to send the DA (with 87 seats in parliament) packing because replacing it with ActionSA, which has only six seats in parliament, will leave the ANC vulnerable on many fronts. This will mean the GNU without the DA has 202 seats as opposed to the DA, Umkhonto we Sizwe Party and EFF led opposition block with 198 seats. This will obviously not only make governance untenable, but it could also make Ramaphosa a candidate for motions of no confidence from adversaries.
This, in part, is why Mbalula on Tuesday appeared to be speaking in tongues while explaining the long-winded decision to reset the relationship. “They [DA] have chosen to participate [in the GNU] and they have created their own chaos. The DA can walk — let them walk. This GNU, with us at the helm and others involved, we will move on,” Mbalula said.
This contrasts with what ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile told the ANC caucus last week, but also the Ahmed Kathrada Legacy Fundraising Breakfast Series — that ministers can’t vote against a budget and walk back to the office to use the same budget they renounced.
He said: “The DA nevertheless went and did not vote for the budget, but I see some of them are working today as ministers. I’d be ashamed to do that. How can you run to work as a minister without voting for the budget and think it's OK?”
What is clear is that ANC is bruised, but it understands that the road ahead is littered with many dangers and it wishes not to pull the plug.
The DA, meanwhile, held its own Federal Council meeting last week but, like the ANC, could not walk away from the GNU. Responding to Ramaphosa’s remarks that the DA defined itself outside the GNU by not voting for the budget, DA leader John Steenhuisen said unlike the ANC, the DA had not once negotiated in bad faith by shopping around for other partners.
“The DA has been clear and consistent about our position on VAT inside government and outside government. Not once has the DA gone outside the GNU to lobby support for our position, which is what the ANC did, defining itself outside the GNU.” What Steenhuisen doesn’t answer is why his party added demands relating to the Bela Act and Expropriations Act.
The relationship between the ANC and the DA within the GNU has been abusive in both directions. While we accept that such political unions are beset with numerous tests, it is unacceptable that the GNU seems to be pulled from the brink of collapse almost every three months.
What many South Africans would like to see is whether this form of government will deliver better, quality services to them than what the ANC did since 1994. But constantly being bogged down by existential challenges serves no-one.
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