By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) is the latest party to join the Government of Unity (GNU) at the eleventh hour, after intensive negotiations within the party.
The PAC had initially joined the Progressive Caucus, a newly formed parliamentary grouping representing about 13% of the National Assembly.
The party’s secretary general Apa Pooe says the progressive caucus’ work is complete.
“I’m saying the progressive forum or parties, their main objective was saying to the ANC, there’s an alternative with us, with us they can achieve 50% + 1. We’ve always wanted to be in a Government of National Unity.”
Pooe said their participation in the GNU is rooted in the belief that “the PAC can effectively steer the country away from right-leaning tendencies and protect the gains achieved thus far”.
He added the PAC believes that their participation in the GNU will place the issue of the restoration of the land on center stage.
The African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Patriotic Alliance (PA) and GOOD have thus far signed the statement of intent to form part of the GNU.
The five parties that have signed the statement of intent make up 273 out of the 400 seats in NA (68%).
This gives the GNU a supermajority in the National Assembly, where a two-thirds majority (or 66.6%) is needed to make sweeping changes, like changing the country’s Constitution.
The GNU sees a coalition of disparate political parties represented in national and provincial legislatures, with committed parties working together in both the executive and legislature (Cabinet and parliamentary positions) based on proportional representation.
According to this statement of intent, parties that want to form part of the GNU must commit to upholding various principles and work towards nine broad priorities.
Even though the ANC has stated that they are open to parties on the opposition benches changing their stance, many parties have explicitly expressed that they are unlikely to change their minds.
The uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Party, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), African Transformation Movement (ATM), Al Jama-Ah, United Democratic Movement (UDM), United Africans Transformation (UAT) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) have formed a self-titled ‘progressive caucus’ as a “unified opposition” against the GNU.
These parties have made it explicit that they would not join the GNU with certain members of the current composition, with some parties in the GNU, like the DA, saying the same about the MK and EFF.
Other parties like ActionSA and Rise Mzansi have said that they have opted not to form part of the GNU and will be the unofficial opposition to the GNU.