By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa has assured South Africans that neither his party nor government will be dictated to by business on the future of the Government of National Unity (GNU).
This follows a letter from business leaders urging efforts to prevent the GNU from collapsing.
They include Adrian Gore, the chief executive officer of Discovery Ltd., and Duncan Wanblad, the leader of Anglo American Plc.
Business leaders believe the GNU has worked well in eight months and that the political competition has seen many Cabinet ministers lift their game to benefit South Africa.
They consider the large-majority GNU led by the ANC with the DA as South Africa’s best bet to get growth going and stimulate employment, especially at a time when 500,000 (and counting) jobs are on the line because of how relations with the US have bombed since Donald Trump became president.
Speaking on the sidelines of an ANC event in Johannesburg on Sunday, Ramaphosa said he was taking seriously the concerns raised in the letter.
“Business is not elected, people who are in Parliament are the ones who have been elected to represent who, the views of everyone including the views of business people in the country. So the extent to which we co-operate with business must be understood to be a process and a relationship of operating to take the country forward and not to dictate to one another and that we will never allow. We are only dictated to by the people of South Africa. Finish and klaar.”
While I see the spirit of patriotism and unity, there’s a major undertone that concerns me. And that undertone is that if the DA is gone, then reforms will be abandoned. But those reforms [energy, logistics, crime and corruption action, as well as local government reform] started in 2021/22 when the ANC was a majority party, ANC Chief Whip Mdumiseni Ntuli.
“What the letter is saying to me is business believes the state has no capacity without the DA and that a government without the DA can’t be trusted. In any engagement [we have] with business, I would like to raise what I see as partisan considerations.
Ramaphosa said the ANC’s national working committee had been tasked with deliberating on the future of the GNU in light of the recent events.
Fullview learnt Ramaphosa has called a cabinet meeting on Monday (7 Arpil) where the future of DA ministers in government will be brought into question.
Markets have not responded well to the saga.
South Africa has much to lose by having the GNU fall apart, with the alliance being one of the core foundations of the stunning turnaround in sentiment towards the country since the 2024 elections.
The pairing of the DA and the ANC was seen as the best possible outcome for South Africa, with the GNU seen as pro-business and pro-reform, restoring some credibility to the once-majority party.
Should the DA leave the GNU, markets will focus on who fills the space left, with none of the options being as positive or stable as it currently stands.
The GNU could proceed with smaller parties like Action SA and Bosa – the parties that supported the ANC in passing the budget – replacing the DA.
This would maintain the GNU’s perceived centrist position, but the grouping would lose its supermajority in parliament and potentially lead to disruptions down the line as the interests of 9 smaller parties come into play when passing legislation.
Meanwhile the South African Communist Party (SACP) has weighed in, saying it’s time to show the DA the door.
SACP spokesperson said, on the sidelines of the party’s first Central Committee Meeting of the year that took place Johannesburg.
Mashilo also called for the “rollback” of the planned VAT increase, arguing that it would place undue pressure on South African citizens. He further suggested that a new government could be formed without the DA.
“That we must roll back the planned VAT increase and this is the time to show the DA the door because what the SACP has been saying all along is that it’s possible to establish a government without the DA, as was proven during the week on Wednesday through the voting patterns there,” he said.