Johnathan Paoli
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has confirmed his party’s full cooperation with the African National Congress (ANC), the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Patriotic Alliance (PA) in a government of national unity.
In a statement made on Friday, Steenhuisen said the allotted time given to parties to come to agreement concerning the effective constitution of a government was too little and so the GNU parties have agreed to conduct negotiations in phases.
Steenhuise said the first phase was completed, with the parties forming a “Statement of Intent”, in order to elect presiding officers and the leadership of the executive.
“The DA has reached an agreement on the statement of intent for the formation of a government of national unity. Following the signing of this document by the leaders of the respective parties involved, including the DA, the IFP and the ANC, the DA will now be part of the national government as well as provincial government in the provinces of Gauteng and KwaZulu- Natal.
“The statement that emerges from the past two weeks of intense but very mature negotiations, charting a news course for our nation. At the heart of this government of national unity statement, is shared respect and defence of our Constitution and rule of law.
“Including the Bill of Rights in its entirety, it is a document that is realistic about the need for mechanisms to deal with the disagreements that will inevitably arise in a multi-party government adopting the threshold of sufficient consensus that served our country well during the Codesa negotiations”.
He said their “GNU presidential candidate” has been decided on ANC leader, former president Cyril Ramaphosa, and following his election, it would be his prerogative to select members of the other parties’ leadership to constitute his cabinet.
The DA leader said the next phase would constitute a Lekgotla strategy session, in which a policy agenda would be established and policy priorities determined.
“This is part of a full democratic consolidation. I intend to keep my commitment to save the country by pledging my support for the GNU. With the DA at the heart of a new multi-party government, South Africa is ready to write a new chapter in its path for a better future for all,” Steenhuisen said.
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