EDITORIAL | GNU discussion is critical for stability

The reported anti-DA revolt by members of the ANC parliamentary caucus could easily be mischaracterised as internal turbulence that is removed from the Government of National Unity (GNU). Nothing could be further from the truth.

Many will, of course, remember how both ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa and his deputy Paul Mashatile expressed themselves when the DA either “defined itself outside the GNU”, or how an adversary was not to be interrupted while making errors.

It is these wise words shared by Ramaphosa and Mashatile that caucus members held on to until they were summoned to an apparently hastily arranged briefing with secretary-general Fikile Mbalula last week.

In this meeting, the MPs demanded to know what had changed since their fateful meeting with Ramaphosa and Mashatile. They demanded to know why the ANC had not acted against what they saw as a belligerent DA, a party that voted against an ANC put-together budget before challenging it in court and, lately, taking the ANC to court over the Employment Equity Amendment Act.

In their eyes, this is a party that does not want to be in the GNU.

Postponing meetings to avoid difficult discussions is not the best way to lead. If the GNU fails, we are all affected

A meeting that was meant to brief MPs on how to approach the latest budgeting process which gets under way in parliament this week and which will culminate in the tabling of budget 3.0 by finance minister Enoch Godongwana on May 21, deteriorated and was characterised by some as chaotic.

ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe is reported by the Sunday Times to have staged a walkout, while Mashatile also left while Mbalula was still making an opening address.

We must hope that the big picture — the significance of the budget and what it must help us achieve — economic growth, jobs, healthcare, safety — doesn’t get lost in between the now regular intraparty clashes.

We must also hope that the reasons for wanting the DA out are not informed by factional fights — but rooted in the need to ensure our country’s interests are served.

The ANC had initially publicly said its national executive committee (NEC), the highest decision-making body in between conferences, would make the final decision on the composition of the GNU.

The NEC had not sat since. Some suggested this was deliberate because the majority would have decided to kick the DA out, however unstrategic the decision.

One thing is clear, the unity in the GNU is tenuous.

But postponing meetings to avoid difficult discussions is not the best way to lead. If the GNU fails, we are all affected. This is why the mishandling of ANC-related GNU deliberations, as reported by the Sunday Times, are everybody’s business.

The ANC NEC must meet and take whatever it considers the right decisions about the future of the GNU. This will help create stability, which is, of course, the oxygen needed for investment generation.

Avoiding the discussion because some disagree with the majority of NEC members is like burying one’s head in the sand.