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DA leader John Steenhuisen says the party’s highest decision-making body, its federal executive, has taken a “unanimous” decision to put the country’s interests first and embark on “exploratory talks” with political parties, including the ANC, to try to form a government.
This follows the 2024 general election last week in which no party won an outright majority, not only in the national ballot but also in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
“I want to assure the people of SA that the DA will always act in the interests of the people throughout this unprecedented moment in our country’s history,” Steenhuisen said in a brief statement after the DA federal executive meeting in Johannesburg.
He added that this effort stood between SA and a so-called doomsday coalition between the ANC, EFF and MK governing much of SA.
“The people that make up the DA, are South Africans first. We have learnt from the past 30 years that there are devastating consequences when party interests are put ahead of the national interest. So, if you are anxious or scared about what SA will look like following these unprecedented election results, I want to reassure you ... the DA will not bury our heads in the sand. We will face up to this challenge, for that is the task of leadership,” Steenhuisen said.
Earlier on Sunday, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula confirmed the ANC was talking to “everyone” and would report back to the ANC’s national executive committee on Tuesday.
“There are many options on the table. We need stability in this country. We will put the interest of the people of this country first,” Mbalula said at a media briefing at the Independent Electoral Commission of SA’s (IEC) national results centre in Midrand.
He said President Ramaphosa stepping down as president “was a no-go zone”.
“Ramaphosa is the president of the ANC and if you come to us with those demands, forget it. If you come to us with the demand that Ramaphosa must step down as president of the ANC, that is not going to happen. No political party will dictate terms like that, it is a no-go area, forget it. You stand in an organisation in bad and good times. Our leadership is tested, you don’t run away,” Mbalula said.
This comes hours before the release of official results of the 2024 general elections on Sunday night, despite some objections being raised by political parties and calls for a recount of the vote.
The IEC on Saturday said there had been 36 objections and 24 recounts raised in total emanating from the vote and count at over 23,000 polling stations, and all would be resolved before results were officially released.
Frantic political horse-trading is expected to begin as soon as the IEC announces the final tally of votes in SA’s watershed elections.
The IEC is scheduled to officially announce the outcome of the elections on Sunday evening, while the leadership of various political parties hold high-level meetings to chart the way forward on coalitions.
Though the ANC electoral majority has been reduced, having shed its support to 40.24% (or 6.3-million votes), it is expected to dominate coalition talks.
The ANC, however, which has been governing the country since the dawn of democracy, will be required to make some significant compromises with other parties if it wants to be part of the new government.
With over 15.7-million votes counted (99.1% complete) by midday on Sunday, the DA was in second place with 21.71% (3.4-million votes), followed by uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) with 14.66% (2.3-million votes) and the EFF 9.46% (1.4-million votes).
Business Day understands that the ANC’s top seven officials met on Saturday and would meet again on Monday with the party's ANC national executive committee on Tuesday at which a final decision on what would guide the choice of coalition partners would be taken.
Some other parties have already announced what their demands would be should they coalesce with the former governing party.
At another media briefing at the IEC results operations centre in Midrand, EFF leader Malema rejected out of hand the idea of a government of national unity, saying: “We don’t want it, we want a coalition. We don’t want a government of national unity, we will end up with [the] wrong people.”
However, Malema said coalition talks “need you to be ready to compromise, but there are certain fundamentals the party would not agree to. For instance, the issue of land is not something that you can compromise on. We will have open-minded engagements and we will take it from there”.
The MK’s Duduzile Zuma said her party was willing to work with the ANC on condition that it kicked out President Cyril Ramaphosa. Zuma is the daughter of former president Jacob Zuma, whose political rivalry with Ramaphosa in the ANC has been cited as one of the reasons for the party’s instability.
The IFP’s president, Velenkosini Hlabisa, said the party was not desperate to go into coalitions, adding it would participate in the multiparty charter (MPC) talks. The IFP’s national executive would then meet to discuss the way forward, he said.
“We had three targets. The first one was to remove the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal. Goal achieved. The second one was to push the ANC below 50% in Gauteng so that the IFP becomes part of a new government at an executive level. Goal achieved. The third one was to push the ANC below 50% at a national level so that the IFP becomes part of a new government and has a strong voice in shaping the direction of our country. Goal achieved. The ANC is below 50% and we are happy,” Hlabisa said.
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