DA leader and agriculture minister John Steenhuisen warned on Thursday his party would have to consider all its options on the way forward, including taking the matter to court, if President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Bill, which he is expected to do on Friday.
Addressing the Cape Town Press Club, Steenhuisen said he hoped to find common ground with Ramaphosa on the bill, which the DA opposes.
“If the president goes ahead , the DA will have to consider all of our options on the way forward. In a multiparty government leaders need to respect the constraints and imperatives of their partners.
“Any leader that tries to ride roughshod over their partners will pay a price, because a time will come when the shoe is on the other foot, and they will need the understanding of those same partners in turn,” Steenhuisen said.
He said the same applied to National Health Insurance (NHI), and if no solutions could be found with the ANC the DA would pursue every other legal means at its disposal.
The DA’s approach to its relations with the ANC was first to seek common ground, then to engage in constructive conflict resolution, and finally to walk away where it believed severe and lasting damage was being done to the economy or the constitution.
Steenhuisen said with only 22% of the vote, the DA could not get everything its own way in the government of national unity (GNU), but it would not accept a situation in which none of its priorities were implemented.
“Fair is fair. We can’t get it all our own way, but neither can the ANC get it all their own way. It is of critical importance to understand that conflict over policy in a multiparty government like the GNU is normal and indeed necessary in a democracy. And it is not necessarily an existential threat to the government. But that doesn’t mean the DA would never walk away under any circumstances,” Steenhuisen said.
He emphasised the DA’s primary objective in the GNU was to grow the economy and create jobs, and if achieving this meant causing distress in the government then so be it.
“The economy is the engine that pulls the whole train forward. If we cannot get it going, nothing else will move. And so, five years from now, we will judge ourselves on two simple metrics: is growth up, and is unemployment down?
“Let me be clear: I am not going to allow anything to get in the way of ensuring growth goes up and unemployment comes down. If that means causing a degree of distress inside the GNU, then so be it,” Steenhuisen said.
“Right now, the government is not gripping the economic situation with the urgency it demands. The disjointed processes of government lumber on ineffectually while the country’s situation cries out for action.”
Economic growth was anaemic, registering just 0.4% in the past quarter, after 10 years of real term per-capita GDP contraction.
“The DA in government has made the choice to view every ministry and deputy ministry we have responsibility for through the prism of growth and jobs.”
If the GNU did not work towards these goals, Steenhuisen said, there was no point being part of it. “The DA will not crash the government unless the government is crashing the economy or trashing the constitution.”
Meanwhile, Steenhuisen admitted on Thursday that he made a mistake in hiring Roman Cabanac as his chief of staff.
He had asked Cabanac to resign and human resource processes were under way, he said. He informed the DA federal executive meeting on Wednesday of his intentions.
“Frankly, I found it far too distracting from the work of my ministry and our government that he is the news story rather than the work of the department and I have asked him therefore whether he would consider stepping aside,” Steenhuisen said.
“I am happy to admit that we don't always get it right, we never will. People make mistakes and I think you should be judged on what you do when that mistake has been pointed out to you.
“I take full responsibility for the appointment. In hindsight there should have been little more due diligence done. In hindsight there should have been greater foresight.”
Update: September 12 2024
This story has been updated with additional information.
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