The main negotiators from SA’s major political parties are racing against time to iron out the details for a potential collaboration as the countdown towards the first sitting of parliament on Friday at 10am continues.
Over the next 48 hours, the multiparty talks to form SA’s new government are expected to start taking shape as political parties discuss how to share the spoils in the incoming administration.
Business Day has learnt that discussions about a potential ANC alliance with the DA and IFP, as well as other minor parties such as the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and National Freedom Party, are ongoing without a final agreement yet on the division of parliamentary and ministerial positions.
The DA’s federal executive council, which is tasked with making the final decision on a tie-up with the ANC, also has to consider how a formal relationship with the ANC would affect its policies. It is anticipated that a marriage between the former adversaries will mark a systemic shift in policy for the DA.
While the ANC and DA have worked together in some municipalities at local government level, the party’s federal council has until now not considered a more formal agreement for the two parties to work together, even in the metros.
With no political party having won an outright majority in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, high-level coalition talks are understood to include discussions on who should hold the seat of political power in those provinces.
This was confirmed by insiders in the ANC, DA and IFP.
Lawson Naidoo, executive secretary of the Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution, said there was time to hammer out the details of working agreements after Friday.
“What happens after Friday, assuming the president is elected, is that that person is inaugurated five days [later], and that is when the new president formally assumes office.
“What the constitution does not say is how long the president has to announce a cabinet, but to have a functional government you have to have a cabinet,” Naidoo said.
The outcomes of the coalition discussions between the ANC and other minority parties to form a government of national unity are expected to filter down to provinces where there is no outright majority.
A DA federal council member familiar with the talks said discussions would not include provinces where a single party won an outright majority. “So that excludes provinces such as Limpopo and the Western Cape. Our view has always been that the negotiations be focused on national level and the three provinces that have not been won with a majority,” he said.
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal confirmed to Business Day on Tuesday that it would not field a premier candidate during the first sitting of the provincial legislature, but would instead support a candidate from a coalition partner with the largest share of the provincial votes.
“If we agree with parties we talk to, the bigger party than us will lead the executive,” provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo said without mentioning with which parties the provincial leadership has held discussions.
Business Day reported on Friday that the EFF and MK had rejected the ANC’s proposal for a government of national unity.
In meetings at the weekend, EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu’s “arrogant” approach and MK’s continued insistence that President Cyril Ramaphosa resign were not well received by the ANC, an ANC national executive committee member close to the talks told Business Day.
But discussion on a potential tie-up between the ANC and DA is also causing some consternation within ANC ranks.
TimesLIVE reported that ANC Eastern Cape secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi rescinded his resignation after intense talks with party chair Gwede Mantashe and secretary-general Fikile Mbalula. It is understood that Ngcukayitobi formally submitted his resignation to provincial officials last week after it emerged the party planned to form a government of national unity with the DA.
Update: June 11 2024
This story has been updated with new information.
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