Even though the government of national unity (GNU) faces disagreements on some fundamental policy issues, it does not pose a significant risk to the economy at this point, Goolam Ballim, chief economist and head of research for the Standard Bank Group said.
Speaking at the bank’s 2025 economic outlook media briefing in Johannesburg, Ballim said the GNU had faced challenging moments but had proven resilient.
“The GNU is maturing. It’s certainly my belief that the GNU is fairly robust and has had a few testing moments and has been able to endure,” he said.
Ballim noted this has signalled a few things, for instance that the GNU had softened the ideological dominance of both the ANC and DA, allowing for more constructive discussions.
“The GNU is subduing the ideological anchor of the ANC, the DA and the [other] political participants in that 10-member GNU assembly,” he said.
This had made the “meeting of minds” so much easier, he said.
He suggested that President Cyril Ramaphosa was not as constrained by ANC alliance partners, such as Cosatu and the SACP, as he had been in the past decade, which allowed for greater flexibility in governance.
Though tension within the GNU is expected to rise as the country approaches local government elections, with the water crisis likely to take centre stage, scrutiny will be directed more at the ANC at the local level rather than the national government.
“That I would frame within general political ambitions in a build-up to the to the local government elections next year.”
The changes the bank saw “engenders a more constructive political trust”, he said.
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