‘We know what DA is and it’s not going to change us’ – Mbalula defends GNU

African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has hit back at the government of national unity (GNU) critics, including the MK party and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu, in his response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address at the Cape Town City Hall on Friday, rejected the GNU.

He said Ramaphosa should have only invited “forces whose umbilical cords are buried in the same yard”.

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“Maybe we’re wrong to believe we share a common heritage and perspective with those who chose to constitute the government with colonial forces.

“Instead of constituting a progressive government, the president of the ANC assembled a bloated executive of Oppenheimer puppets, semi-literate matriculants, apartheid apologists, ex-convicts, waffling careerists and call them a government of national unity,” said Shivambu.

He claimed that everything Ramaphosa represents is “fiction”.

This comes as John Hlophe, the MK party chief whip, called the GNU “a singularly very cruel joke by the Ramaphosa faction of the ANC and the Democratic Alliance”.

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Hlophe said the GNU would not be able to address the challenges of poor South Africans unless the legacy of apartheid and colonialism is addressed.

Mbalula: GNU failure will not collapse government

During a briefing on Saturday, Mbalula said the GNU criticism came from a place of either ignorance or political games.

On claims that the GNU would not last, Mbalula said even if the formation ended, it still would not collapse the government.

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“GNU might end, but it will not collapse government. Don’t look at the government of national unity in relation to political party interest. Look at it broadly, including those who did not come to vote,” said Mbalula.

He further criticised parties saying that the ANC “sold out” by entering into a GNU with the DA. He said the critics were just playing political games.

“We know what we stand for. We know what the DA is and it’s not going to change us towards the DA,” said Mbalula.

“They rejected the GNU, but did not know what they wanted from us. The MK party rejected our president. The MK party said it did not want our president, today we’re being asked to work with him [Jacob Zuma].

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“We’re persuaded by policy. The minute our president and his Cabinet tells us that NHI cannot be implemented in our government because of the constraints of the government of national unity, then we will know that it is the moment of selling out.”

Govt should update citizens

Mbalula, however, conceded that government departments were not doing enough to update the country on the progress of various projects.

This gave the impression that nothing was being done by government, he said. He said ministers should take time to update the citizens on the progress of their work. This will avoid speculation and confusion.

“There is work in progress, otherwise we will come to the conclusion that president’s speeches are misleading. And some overzealous chaps will say its fiction, yet there is work that is being done,” said Mbalula.

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“When they run out of criticism, they resolve to derogatory and insufficient criticism on the president due to lack of reportage on the part of government departments.”