Johnathan Paoli
THE African National Congress (ANC) has announced the establishment of a historic agreement between ten South African political parties to form a government of national unity (GNU) of the 7th administration.
ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said on Saturday that the outcome of the national and provincial elections have indicated that the nation wants political parties to work together to solve the challenges facing the country and to improve the lives of the people.
“The ANC, as the party that received the most votes, after considering various options towards the formation of a government, resolved that the GNU model would best fit the national interest and took the initiative to engage all parties which won parliamentary seats towards the formation of a government of national unity,” Bhengu-Motsiri said.
She said the party proposed a statement of intent (SOI) for the GNU and invited all parties with seats to engage with the founding principles, the minimum programme and the modalities of the GNU.
The current list of founding parties include: the ANC, Democratic Alliance (DA), Patriotic Alliance (PA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), GOOD, Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), VryheidsFront Plus (FF+), United Democratic Movement (UDM), Rise Mzansi and Al Jama-ah.
The national spokesperson said the ten party signatories of the SOI are expected to put the country and its people ahead of party interests.
Bhengu-Motsiri said the first expression of the GNU occurred on 14 and 15 June, in which the parties cooperated on the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces and the President of the Republic.
She said any further parties who wished to join the GNU will be subject to clause 24 of the SOI which holds that the joining of new parties would be discussed and agreed upon by the existing parties of the GNU.
Bhengu-Motsiri confirmed that the engagements with the signatory parties on the formation of the executive has started, and said President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to announce appointments to the executive in the coming days.
She said the party would continue to attempt to find more parties to join the GNU.
“The ANC remains in open communication with the parties that have not joined the GNU, exploring various ways in which there can be collaboration on building a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa,” Bhengu-Motsiri said.
However, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have maintained their unwillingness to work with a group of parties which contain the DA and FF+.
EFF leader Julius Malema said the presence of leaders such as Renaldo Gouws and Ian Cameron within the DA, exposes the party’s belief in white supremacy and a blatant fight against genuine equality.
“We have made it clear that for us to participate, the DA and VF+ cannot be involved, and we insist on RDP houses in Orania,” Malema said.
Malema said the existence of these two parties undermined the democratic values the nation stood for, and is a direct threat to the dignity and humanity of Black South Africans.
Meanwhile, the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party announced that its members who boycotted the first sitting of parliament are expected to be sworn-in on Tuesday.
At the time of publishing, MK had made no indications of its willingness to join the GNU.
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