South Africa’s GNU hanging on – for now

South Africa’s ruling coalition will remain intact for now, even as its main members continue to spar over the national budget.  

The Democratic Alliance, the second-largest party in the so-called government of national unity, voted against a key budget law last week, saying it didn’t do enough to fire up the economy and shouldn’t have incorporated tax increases.

Its stance angered its larger partner, the African National Congress, with some of its senior members questioning how the DA could remain part of the GNU if it opposed the spending and revenue-collection plan.

The ANC’s national working committee, one of its top leadership structures, discussed the matter at a meeting on Monday and “resolved that there is a need to continue to engage with all GNU partners and all parties,” Fikile Mbalula, the party’s secretary-general, told reporters on Tuesday. 

The ANC hasn’t taken a position as to whether the DA or any other political party should remain in the government, and if any of them choose to “misbehave and define themselves outside government, then it is their choice to do so,” he said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa established a 10-party alliance last June, a month after national elections failed to produce an outright winner, bringing together rivals with widely disparate views on a range of issues.

Besides disagreeing over the budget, the ANC and DA have clashed over health, education and land-expropriation legislation.

“We remain committed to the GNU” from a tactical perspective, but its integrity cannot be compromised, government institutions must be protected, and laws that have been passed are there to stay, Mbalula said.

“What we have agreed to do is to reset the button by way of ensuring that this GNU going forward has got to be governed by rules, not just the statement of intent” that was agreed upon its formation, he added. 

DA leader John Steenhuisen said his party is “certainly not just going to walk away from the GNU, but we also can’t just remain in a situation where we are not privy to a genuine power-sharing relationship.”

It was the ANC that went outside of the coalition to deal with parties that aren’t privy to the statement of intent, and entities need to “find a way through this particular impasse and find a situation where we can pass the budget,” he told SABC News. 

The DA has challenged the budget law in court, arguing that proper procedures weren’t followed, and said it will only decide whether to remain in the administration once a ruling is made. The case is due to be heard on April 22. 

“The DA is not there as a gopher for the ANC. We are there with 22% of the vote to exercise the mandate of our voters to serve South Africa and to get more people into jobs,” DA chairwoman Helen Zille said in an interview broadcast by BizNews on Monday.