Trouble In GNU Paradise: ANC and DA In Power Struggle For Cabinet Positions
Tensions have been high within the proposed ten-party Government of National Unity (GNU), with the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) involved in a Cabinet position power struggle.
After President Cyril Ramaphosa’s inauguration on the 19th of June 2024, South Africans have been waiting with bated breaths for the announcement of Cyril’s new Cabinet, which will help with steering the ship for the country’s seventh administration as a democratic republic.
With the ANC failing to secure an outright majority, South Africa’s ruling party since 1994 was forced to talk to other parties in order to form a coalition government, with Ramaphosa making it known that the ANC would settle for a Government of National Unity (GNU), rather than forming a coalition with one single party.
After weeks of clandestine meetings and hard negotiations, the ANC’s secretary-general Fikile Mbalula released a media statement announcing that the GNU would consist of at least 10 parties: ANC, DA, IFP, PA, FF+, UDM, GOOD, Al Jamah, PAC, and Rise Mzansi.
ANC SG Fikile Mbalula | SUPPLIED
Haggling Between the ANC and the DA
Although the number of parties within the GNU have formed an overwhelming majority enough to form government, there has been haggling and hard bargaining, particularly between the ANC and the DA for cabinet positions.
On the 24th of June, Mbalula issued a statement on behalf of the ANC, asserting the party’s position in the “ANC-led” GNU, and how the party would not bend the knee to “oulandish” demands as made by an unidentified party.
“The African National Congress (ANC) notes with concern that some parties have been making outlandish and outrageous demands for specific Cabinet positions in the media. Negotiating through leaking demands to the media is an act of bad faith and this practice will not help the cause of any party. It is only the President who has the final say on the appointment of his Cabinet. The GNU cannot be held ransom by any single party. The people need a government to be established sooner, rather than later.
“The African National Congress (ANC) confirms that since the announcement of the historic agreement between 10 South African political parties to form an ANC-led Government of National Unity (GNU) for the 7th democratic administration. Phase 2 of the establishment of the GNU is well underway with the highly anticipated announcement of Cabinet by President Cyril Ramaphosa drawing close,” said the statement.
The statement, although cryptic, came after a leaked offer letter by the DA made rounds on social media. In the letter written by the party’s federal chair Helen Zille, she identified over ten Cabinet positions she wanted the DA to be allocated within the GNU. The ANC’s unlikely bedfellow not only ended there but also tabled the proposition of the DA being given deputy ministers within the ministries they’d already demanded, with the exception of the Finance Ministry.
Helen Zille | SUPPLIED
The DA’s leaked document has also been seen as the party’s direct response to Fikile Mbalula’s letter to John Steenhuisen, timestamped 22 June 2024, in which he offered the party six Cabinet minister positions and seven deputy minister positions within the GNU.
The DA’s sudden about-face concerning ministerial positions has also been a source of contention, with the current president of the party John Steenhuisen initially stating during an interview with Newzroom Afrika that the party cared more about serving people than obtaining positions.
“For us [the DA] it’s not really about positions. It’s about being able to be in areas where we can serve,” said Steenhuisen during the interview at the President’s inauguration in Pretoria.
The DA’s demands have also infringed on one of the GNU’s party’s demands, the Patriotic Alliance led by the outspoken Gayton McKenzie. Vocal on the socials, the PA’s leader, who has been vocal about taking over the Home Affairs Ministry, has been critical of the DA, particularly concerning the party also wanting the Ministry they have been gunning for.
After the DA’s leaked document of demands, McKenzie reacted to a meme about him getting angry over the DA wanting to get their hands on the Home Affairs department and quote-tweeted: “Masepa fela,” in response.
The ANC’s SG has also noted that amid the strife between the DA and ANC, adhering to Clause 16 was the yardstick in the structuring of the imminent cabinet as outlined by the 2024 GNU’s Statement of Intent.
“The Government of National Unity shall be constituted in a manner that reflects genuine inclusiveness of political parties that are party to this Statement of Intent and are represented in the National Assembly broadly taking into account the number of seats parties have in the National Assembly and the need to advance the National Interest. The President shall in constituting the Executive, take into account the electoral outcomes,” says Clause 16.
Read the full statement of intent here.
As such, the ANC has been firm on its initial offer to the DA whilst also taking into account that other members of the GNU needed to be represented within the GNU without the positions being completely monopolized.
This is a developing story.