Good news about South Africa’s government of national unity

The two largest political parties in South Africa’s governing coalition said they held constructive talks on Saturday to resolve an ongoing dispute over the nation’s budget.

The African National Congress, the largest member in the government of national unity, said its negotiating team “held a constructive engagement with the leadership of the Democratic Alliance as part of ongoing efforts to break the current budget impasse.” The ANC’s team is being led by secretary general Fikile Mbalula.

The ANC lost its majority for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994 at elections in May last year. That forced it to join with the DA to form a government and the two have been wrangling over a number of issues, most recently the nation’s budget.

The rift has widened after the Democratic Alliance voted against a key piece of budget legislation that included a 0.5% increase in value added tax. It subsequently initiated a court case to halt the budget legislation after it was passed without its support.

The dispute led the ANC to seek the support of parties outside the coalition on the budget.

“The engagement took place in a constructive atmosphere, with both sides speaking respectfully yet frankly about the need to resolve the impasse over the budget and to enhance cooperation between the two parties,” Helen Zille, the DA’s Federal Council Chairperson said in a statement on Saturday.

She said the DA reiterated that an increase in VAT would be unaffordable without meaningful structural reforms that will boost economic growth and jobs.

Asked whether the DA had been asked to withdraw its case to stop the budget legislation, Zille said by text message “we were not asked to stop our legal action.”

“We analyzed how the impasse had arisen. We explained why it was absolutely essential for us to achieve economic growth and have a clear action plan to achieve this,” she said.