Will the centre hold for Gauteng’s GPU?

Gauteng’s government of provincial unity (GPU) is taking shape under the new ANC-Rise Mzansi-IFP (Inkatha Freedom Party)-Patriotic Alliance (PA) to govern the province.

But without a clear majority, its stability and effectiveness are questionable, say political experts. The DA has decided to remain an opposition party in Gauteng following weeks of negotiations with the ANC.

Independent political analyst Goodenough Mashego said Wednesday’s announcement was a hasty decision and indicated that it was to protect the “sins of the sixth administration”.

‘Protecting the sins’ of the previous administration

He said the DA might have wanted the portfolios where the “massive corruption” of the sixth administration was being buried. This included the departments of health, finance and housing.

“I think the haste in doing this was because the seventh administration wanted to protect the sins of the sixth. The root of the failures of the administration can only be uncovered by the seventh.

“The seventh administration’s interest now is to protect the sins of the sixth and they’re prepared to collapse the government or come up with a minority government to defend whatever was wrong with the sixth administration,” he said.

The GPU has 33 of the legislature’s 80 seats – nine short of the required minimum of 41 seats to have a majority.

Mashego said the ANC was vulnerable and without the DA to give it the numbers to govern, the GPU would face an uphill battle.

He said the developments indicated that the ANC Gauteng leadership was nonstrategic.

“They know it’s going to collapse in a few months because it’s more vulnerable now with the DA moving into opposition. It would have been vulnerable with the DA in government, but the DA wouldn’t have wanted the government to collapse.

“But now, with the DA moving into opposition, it’s becoming more vulnerable. They don’t think at a strategic level.”

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Political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast said: “The ANC has been at fault because the margin between it and the DA in Gauteng is not huge. I get the sense that the ANC is opposed to the DA, but the question remains if this GPU is solid.

“This is why you hear Lesufi saying the door is still open because the DA is the party that can give it the right numbers. They will find each other now that the mother body has come into the picture because they know the meaning of this conflict,” he said.

But political analyst Sandile Swana said while critics were saying the collapse of talks between the ANC and DA would lead to instability in Gauteng, this was unlikely.

He said with uMkhonto weSizwe party and the EFF backing the ANC, it would actually make the provincial government more secure.