Government of national unity will be good for SA

If all unfolds as predicted, our government of national unity (GNU) is about to come into existence. It most probably will be mirrored at a provincial level in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

It will likely comprise the ANC, the Democratic Alliance (DA), and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). A few political minnows like ActionSA, Build One SA and Rise Mzansi may be added to the mix.

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Political window-dressing cannot disguise that this is an inherently fragile arrangement. Many ANC members, as well as its trade union and communist allies, have a deep antipathy towards the “racist” DA and the “tribalist” IFP.

Not only are the political ideologies of the two blocs fundamentally different but, for the ANC, the GNU is an uncomfortable but necessary mechanism to retain power.

However, it’s by no means clear that the governing party is willing to make the policy compromises that will be necessary over the long term.

Fortunately, there is some good news for an embattled nation. The GNU’s fragile prospects have been boosted by an unexpected quarter – that of Jacob Zuma and Julius Malema.

Their unforced errors and miscalculations will afford the GNU some time to get off the ground. It’s a welcome change in the tide of events. In the six years that followed his ousting from the presidency, Zuma put not a foot wrong.

With infuriating aplomb, he kept at bay the Zondo commission, law enforcement, the courts, the prison service, law enforcement, poisonous wives and the ANC apparatus that had rejected him. His followers launched an insurrection in 2021.

Then Zuma unexpectedly changed gear from Stalingrad attrition tactics to an all-out blitzkrieg, putting the ANC further on the back foot. With less than six months to go before the election, Zuma launched his uMKhonto weSizwe party (MK).

He cheekily appropriated the name and livery of the ANC’s disbanded military wing and did so while assuring a befuddled electorate that he would remain an ANC member until he died. The media scoffing and ANC scorn were short-lived.

First, he gave the ANC a rat-tat-tat of bloodied noses over their hopeless attempts to have his party deregistered, its name invalidated and its symbols declared their intellectual property.

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Then came the body blow, his astonishing electoral breakthrough that put the ANC on the ropes, slumping in support from 58% to 40% of the national vote and a miserable 18% in KZN.

It left Zuma in a powerful position, especially if he acted in concert with his old frenemy, Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema.

After all, they have a lot in common. Both exited the ANC with reluctance. Both loathe Ramaphosa. Both appeal to young, alienated African voters.

Both had visions, buoyed by their combined national vote of 25% of holding the balance of power in negotiations with the ANC. Instead of pressing home the blitzkrieg, Zuma withdrew to Stalingrad.

Displaying a woeful lack of understanding of the constitution. First, he demanded that the Electoral Commission of South Africa not announce the final results and that the “rigged” election which had deprived MK of a two-thirds majority be rerun.

Second, he announced that MK would also not take up its 58 seats in the new National Assembly, an act that would supposedly invalidate the first sitting of the new parliament.

Unsurprisingly, the Constitutional Court this week ruled against Zuma in both matters.

Had MK and the EFF, working together, agreed to negotiate participation in the GNU, they would still be at the table and holding strong hands over a long game.

This is the best news yet for the survival of the GNU.