DA and ANC near government unity deal

The Democratic Alliance (DA) and ANC are as close as 24 hours away from a deal, DA leader John Steenhuisen said yesterday.

The leader of the second-largest party spent much of yesterday in a one-on-one meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria – and he was upbeat after it.

“The meeting was incredibly positive and I believe we are much closer to finding a solution that can work for all South Africans,” said Steenhuisen.

“While nothing is cast in stone, an announcement is imminent and could be as close as one or two days from now,” he said.

“The negotiating teams of all the parties have done excellent work. What has taken the Dutch coalition government six months to navigate, South African parties have managed in a few weeks.”

Negotiations with enormous pressure

Negotiations have taken place with enormous pressure on parties, particularly the DA, which will play a crucial role in the government of national unity (GNU).

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Without Steenhuisen’s party, the alternative would be a coalition between what some analysts call the ANC, Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and fascist-leaning uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.

Steenhuisen called that the “doomsday coalition”.

“We understand the burden and we have to do what is right for the country and, particularly, for the more than three million South Africans who entrusted their votes to us,” he said.

It was reported at the weekend that the DA insisted on the deputy presidency; suggesting it was a DA red line, though sources told The Citizen previously that the ANC shunned the notion completely.

However, Steenhuisen said while it is normal in a coalition for the second-largest party to be awarded the number two position, the DA let it go in favour of a more equitable Cabinet.

‘New territory for DA’

“This is new territory for the DA,” Steenhuisen said, adding: “And new territory for the country.

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“It is important that cool and clear heads prevail during the final stretch of negotiations.”

Talks have been tough and Steenhuisen said it was not unexpected that there would be a lot of toing and froing in the process.

There was also a lot of posturing, with MK leading the charge.

Small parties that collected fewer votes than the initial two percent threshold set by the ANC also recently announced participation in the GNU.

These include Rise Mzansi, Good, the PAC and Multi-Party Coalition partners the Freedom Front Plus.

Al Jama-ah also hopped onto the bandwagon after first rejecting the GNU.

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10 parties in the mix

For now, there are 10 parties in the mix, with many smaller entities likely joining GNU in search of positions, an analyst suggested.

The DA said in statement earlier yesterday that it seeks an inclusive and fair distribution of Cabinet posts where parties that, for example, only attracted a small portion of the vote are not rewarded disproportionately.

“It would not be fair to allocate a Cabinet seat to a party that received less than a percent of the vote and then only three seats to a party that received 22% of the vote,” it read.

Reports of ANC insiders insisting that the party’s national executive committee (NEC) take over the talks and oust the DA from a seat at the table, said Steenhuisen, has always been an option for the ANC.

“We maintain that ultimately we should put the country first,” he said.

Common ground and starting point

That has been the common ground and starting point for the GNU talks since Ramaphosa held out an olive branch at the IEC results centre what feels like forever ago.

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Steenhuisen said as much, too, and other parties later echoed the sentiment.

But there cannot be a deal at all costs, said Steenhuisen.

“We will not simply capitulate and the discussions have been quite robust during the past couple of weeks,” he said.

“We must get it right, upfront, because if we do not, South Africa will sit with an unstable coalition six months down the line if we do not fight the fight upfront and get the deal right.

“This way we will set the course for a stable lifetime of the coalition.”