The ANC is considering forming a government of national unity (GNU) with other minority parties as it begins post-election negotiations after suffering a dramatic fall in electoral support.
That would allow for two deputy presidents chosen from various parties, according to ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula. This would be similar to the GNU established after the dawn of democracy which was led by Nelson Mandela as president and FW de Klerk and Thabo Mbeki as deputy presidents.
Mandela’s cabinet included ministers from other political parties as well as members of the National Party and IFP. The GNU was dissolved after two years after De Klerk stepped down.
“There are different governance models we are looking at. The GNU allows for two deputy presidents,” Mbalula said when questioned by Business Day on which options the ANC is considering going into the coalition talks with other parties.
But he said President Cyril 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,” said Mbalula.
Market watchers have been mulling over the possible outcome of an ANC-EFF coalition fearing a partnership between the two parties could result in capital outflows.
The DA’s federal executive has appointed a negotiating team comprising Helen Zille, Ivan Meyer, Siviwe Gwarube, Alan Winde, Tony Leon and Ryan Coetzee to facilitate engagement with other parties.
This was decided at a meeting of DA top brass on Sunday before the announcement of the results. The purpose of the talks with other parties is “to identify options for the formation of governments at national and provincial level where no party has obtained an outright majority”, said party leader John Steenhuisen.
The DA has not ruled out working with the ANC, but said it would not work with the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party and the EFF.
At another media briefing at the IEC results operations centre in Midrand, EFF leader Julius Malema rejected 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.”
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 countdown for political parties to form a new coalition government begins on Monday after the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) announced the outcomes of the general election on Sunday showing no outright winner.
The first sitting of the National Assembly must take place no more than 14 days after election results are declared.
Meanwhile, the multiparty charter (MPC), a group of opposition parties that banded together to oust the ANC, held a post-election meeting on Saturday where there was no decision on how to proceed.
The charter consists of the DA, Freedom Front Plus, ActionSA, IFP, ACDP, United Independent Movement, the Spectrum National Party, the Ekhethu People’s Party and the United Christian Democratic Party, as well as the Independent SA National Civic Organisation.
The charter was formed in 2023. The MPC agreement bars its members from working with the ANC, EFF or any “rival formations” and “will not vote for any office bearers of the ANC and EFF — nominated either directly or indirectly — at any inaugural meetings of the National Assembly, National Council of Provinces and provincial legislatures”, according to the agreement signed by parties.
IFP chief whip Narend Singh said the party had not ruled out talks with the ANC because “we have worked with them before during the government of national unity. The MPC as a body is not open to working with them.”
FF Plus head of elections Wouter Wessels said they would consider any option that keeps the MK party and EFF out of the government, a stance similar to the DA's.
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