By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it remains committed to the Government of National Unity, as it works to resolve a dispute over new laws.
“We are fully committed to the GNU,” Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen told reporters on Tuesday in Johannesburg.
“But we need to make sure that the DA, as the second-largest party, is allowed to express itself, to be able to put on the table alternatives. If that is not possible, it makes future involvement in the GNU incredibly difficult to justify.”
The latest stand-off is over the Expropriation Act signed by president Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday.
The ANC and DA have clashed over several issues since the formation of the unity government, including the contentious Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act and National Health Insurance (NHI).
Steenhuisen said he believed the GNU would last and that the alternative was “too ghastly to contemplate. We will continue to work in the GNU but we will not be spectators.”
“The GNU is SA’s most precious asset and that’s why all parties need to be responsible stewards,” Steenhuisen said.
He characterised responsible stewardship as consultation and said the party wanted better and more robust conflict resolution mechanisms. The existing mechanism, the so-called clearing house chaired by Deputy President Paul Mashatile, does not even have terms of reference to guide its work.
Federal chairperson Helen Zille said every party in the coalition government, apart from the ANC and the DA, owed its position to Ramaphosa’s goodwill.
“If you are a minister, deputy minister, or chair of a committee, you have to please Ramaphosa because he holds your fate in his hands,” she said.
Zille claimed the ANC’s strategy of co-opting smaller parties created a “hallelujah chorus” that backed the ruling party on every decision, conveniently shielding it from political battles with the DA.
She said the DA’s role in the GNU was secured not by Ramaphosa’s favour, but by the 3.5 million South Africans who voted for the party in last May’s general elections, giving it the balance of power.
Investor concern about the stability of the nation’s seven-month-old coalition government increased after the DA said at the weekend that it’s declared a formal dispute over what it says was inadequate consultation over contentious policies.
The rand strengthened as much as 0.3% after Steenhuisen’s comments on Tuesday, reversing an earlier loss of 0.7%, and traded at 18.71 per dollar by 11:48 a.m. in Johannesburg.