Rise Mzansi, which has two seats in the National Assembly and is a part of the government of national unity (GNU), has called for a reset of the coalition government, noting that political leaders last convened a meeting in March amid a budget crisis.
The party, one of nine others in the coalition led by the ANC, warned on Monday the GNU risked drifting without clear direction unless regular consultations were restored.
“We need regular and scheduled meetings of the leaders of the GNU ... to iron out issues, as well as a full functioning of the clearing house mechanism, which last met in March,” Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi said.
“Currently, nine political parties have individual agreements with the ANC and we spend too much time and energy worrying about the squabbles between the ANC and the DA, because that’s what some of the big policy disputes have been about, whether it is the budget and so on,” he said.
“But fundamentally when the ANC and the DA diverge at critical times, it plunges the country into an unnecessary crisis.”
The GNU, formed after the 2024 general election when the ANC lost its parliamentary majority, has faced various pressure points including cabinet allocation disputes, economic policy reform, land policy disagreements and foreign policy friction.
The SACP, which is part of the ANC-led tripartite alliance with Cosatu, opposes the GNU, which it describes as a “monumental setback” for the working class.
The party is not in favour of expanding the GNU, as per the ANC national executive committee (NEC) decision in August, “so the expansion, in and of itself, is not an issue. The lack of political management is a problem. The effective the restructuring of the GNU is an important precursor to having other parties,” Zibi said.
Meanwhile, Rise Mzansi has begun discussions with other political parties of a possible merger or to form a working arrangement for the local government elections. Rise will be contesting these elections for the first time since its formation in 2023.
“We have been in conversation with various political parties about working together in next year’s local government elections, as well as all the way into 2029. I think we agree generally that too much fragmentation can be counter productive,” Zibi said.
ActionSA’s chair, Michael Beaumont, told Business Day the party was not considering any merger or co-working agreement with other parties ahead of the local government elections.
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