The formation of a new government is in motion.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Thursday that the ruling ANC’s national executive committee has invited other political parties to create a government of national unity (GNU).
While many experts had predicted coalitions would form after the elections, they are now deliberating the stability of a GNU, with some questioning the concept, its dynamics and nuances.
According to The Week, an online news publication, a GNU is a broad coalition of multiple parties working together to form a new cabinet and government, instead of a direct coalition of two parties with majority votes.
A GNU is formed during a state of urgency or instability in government. In essence, a GNU is a multiparty government where there are no rival parties; instead, parties find aligned ideologies in order to work together.
As the ANC came to terms with its less-than-majority 40% of the vote, Ramaphosa said the party was in talks to rope in multiple parties to form a new government.
He said a GNU was an optimistic path for the South African economy, one which would achieve job creation, economic stability, social cohesion and non-racialism.
There is precedent. During Nelson Mandela’s time as president, the country had a GNU between 1994 and 1997.
Back then, the National Party’s FW de Klerk was deputy president, while the ANC’s political rival, the Inkatha Freedom Party, presided over some ministerial offices.
South Africans have many concerns about a GNU, with some sceptical of what they call the DA’s racial ideology, with claims the official opposition has a racial incentive and supports only white people.
Meanwhile, according to Al Jazeera, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), having secured a majority in KwaZulu-Natal, said it was willing to work with the ANC, but wants Ramaphosa to resign as President.
In another reaction, Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema immediately ranted on X that the EFF rejects a multiparty government.
“We can't share power with the enemy. The arrogance continues even after the South African voters issued warning signs. You can't dictate the way forward as if you have won elections. We are not desperate for anything, ours is a generational mission,” he said.
Rumours on social media are that the ANC is leaning towards the DA partaking in a GNU, though many reject the blue party participating in a multiparty government.
However, political analysts believe the DA’s presence will foster economic stability, alluding to the economic progress of the Western Cape, and Cape Town in particular.
“The government of national unity is what makes sense for the government. The DA is the most appropriate party the ANC must partner with if you want to prioritise economic growth, job creation and poverty alleviation. There are challenges in the DA; it is not responsive to the issues of the black middle class. The DA is not nuanced on the racial politics of our history,” the University of London’s Professor Adam Habib told Newzroom Afrika.
Additionally, a former member of Parliament, Mbhazima Shilowa, told Newzroom Afrika that a multiparty government entails economic stability because every party has a stake in the legislature. However, the different structures of parties negate a progressive state, which eventually affects local governments.
The Star