President of the African National Congress (ANC) and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa goes to vote for speaker for parliament during the first sitting of the New South African Parliament in Cape Town on June 14, 2024. (Photo by Rodger Bosch / AFP)
It was expected, but the freshly minted government of national unity (GNU) came as a surprise all the same and now, said analysts and party insiders alike, it is time to fall in line behind the new regime and give it a chance.
Economist Dawie Roodt, usually critical of the previous ANC-led government, was upbeat.
“Economists, analysts and the media now need to take a step back and give the new government some latitude,” he said.
“It’s a potentially new era for South Africa and it will not be constructive to rush in and criticise from the get-go.”
Roodt said it is critical for President Cyril Ramaphosa to remain at the helm of the ANC, because his leadership forms the axis of the agreement.
University of Johannesburg political analyst Dr Oscar van Heerden agreed but said the new government would have to hit the ground running. “They need to step up and they need to deliver to the people,” he said.
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The fortnight or so that it took to get to this point, he added, is a positive step for the country and now it will be up to every minister and every department to answer the task that voters signed them up for: to govern, and to fix South Africa.
In his address yesterday, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen shared a conciliatory message: “For the very first time, the DA will now be able to bring the same expertise that we honed in places like Cape Town, Midvaal, uMngeni, Kouga and the Western Cape, to serve all the people of South Africa. That is our core mission in the GNU: to serve, uplift and deliver dignity to all the people of our country.”
Meanwhile, the collection of leftists as the Progressive Caucus is expected to provide a strong social component to the opposition benches.
Should the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party join the band of smaller parties, including the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), it could amount to a formidable over 130 seats that will endeavour to keep the grand coalition of three – the DA, ANC and Inkatha Freedom Party – in check.
At its opposite, more centrist and libertarian policy driven parties such as ActionSA and the Freedom Front Plus will add to the potentially robust political discourse in lawmaking that lies ahead.
ActionSA’s Herman Mashaba said his party plans to do just that. “We look forward to being an unofficial opposition in the void left by the DA,” he said.
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“ActionSA will be a constructive opposition, supporting policies that put South African interests first, fight corruption and hold this coalition accountable.”
He also did not mince his words, saying the days of ANC abuse of their majority are over.
“I hope their coalition partners will not be part of protecting their corruption and malfeasance experienced in the past.”
Despite every effort by Jacob Zuma’s MK party to disrupt the process, they are the biggest losers in the election, said Van Heerden.
“MK became the third largest party, but it amounted to naught,” he said. “MK did not manage to hang onto KwaZulu-Natal, and they have certainly not been able to dictate what happened at national level.”
Other commentators have previously suggested MK will be a five-year, single term party that will fade into insignificance.
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According to insiders, the EFF have been making back-door overtures at the ANC and Van Heerden suspects the party does not want to be left out in the cold.
“Over the past few weeks, the EFF have gone outside their lane and overstepped boundaries,” he said, adding the red berets will find a way to get back into the mainstream political fray on the quiet, to not lose face.
“It is a very exciting time,” said Roodt. “But it is going to take an exceptionally long time to repair the damage that has been done over the past 30 years. But it is possible.”
Another analyst agreed and said strategic delivery is low hanging fruit that can show faster delivery, while more complex issues like the NHI, unemployment and the economy, will take longer to thrash out.
Earlier this week, naysayers condemned a government of national unity as doomed to fail due to perceived instability. However, Roodt said that the way it has all played out until now, is positive.
Steenhuisen said: “The people have also told us that the time for finger pointing is over. And that the time for a new politics of collaboration and problem solving, has arrived.
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“Make no mistake about it: this is not the end of the process, and the road ahead will not be an easy one,” he said.
Van Heerden called it the new normal and said that this is what South Africans voted for. Now, it is up to the politicians to deliver against this mandate.
“It’s about rolling up their sleeves, and getting to work for the people,” he said.
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