‘Don’t give us ridiculous conditions’: EFF and MK party invited to join GNU

African National Congress (ANC) NEC member Mzwandile Masina said his party is moving ahead with plans to include more political parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU), and discussions are ongoing with political parties, including the Jacob-Zuma-led uMkontho weSizwe party.

Earlier this week, IOL reported that as the ANC intensifies work to expand the size and reach of the GNU by adding more parties to the coalition currently governing South Africa, opposition party ActionSA insists it is not interested in joining the ruling arrangement.

Leader of ActionSA, Herman Mashaba said so far, he has only heard from media reports that the ANC wants to approach ActionSA for negotiations around GNU inclusion, but his party has not heard a word from Luthuli House.

One of the main political parties in the GNU, the Democratic Alliance (DA), strongly opposes expanding the ruling coalition.

However, Masina said the ANC insists that, as the leader of the pact, the time has come to press the reset button.

“This GNU is led by ourselves. The DA will have to accept that we are resetting the button. We are bringing others who will be prepared to subscribe. What we will not accept are conditions, because previously we were given ridiculous conditions which we could not accept, which is why other parties are not necessarily part of the GNU,” the former mayor of Ekurhuleni spoke to broadcaster Newzroom Afrika.

He said the ANC has directed the leadership led by President Cyril Ramaphosa to open discussions with other political parties represented in the National Assembly.

Masina said the ANC is not expelling the DA from the Government of National Unity, but the decision to stay or leave the coalition lies with the blue party.

“We do not have a permanent relationship with them, because even ideologically we are two different parties, and it has been proven that we have to consolidate and ensure that this government remains stable,” he said.

On the EFF and MK party, Masina said invitations have been extended to the opposition political parties and the ANC hopes they will not come with “ridiculous conditions”.

“South Africa as a country is critical. We have spoken to those parties. We have spoken to EFF, we have spoken to MK, and MK is quite ridiculous. On one hand, they dispute the results (of the 2024 general elections) and on the other hand, they are in Parliament. There is a lot of confusion taking place there.

“With the EFF, there have been engagements, and I hope that this time around, they will not put demands that are ridiculous, that will make the ANC not consider. So I hope that throughout these engagements, they will allow us to ensure that we are firmer in terms of the statement and the principles that have been set up for this GNU, which is not permanent,” said Masina.

On Tuesday, IOL reported that ANC veteran and National Executive Committee (NEC) member Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has emphasised the need for the ANC to rebuild its structures on the ground and focus on local government to restore trust with the people. 

With the upcoming local government elections, Dlamini-Zuma stressed that the ANC should prioritise strengthening its branches and delivering services to communities.

Service delivery remains a challenge in South Africa. This includes inadequate infrastructure, insufficient resources, and issues of maintenance and accountability.

Dlamini-Zuma highlighted the importance of building strong branches.

"Our branches must be built properly because the strength of the branch is what they do in the community… We are going to the local government elections, and we should be concentrating on that right now."

In 2017, Dlamini-Zuma lost the battle to become the ANC president to Cyril Ramaphosa, who won with 2,440 votes. Dlamini-Zuma got 2,261. 

However, under Ramaphosa, the party lost its parliamentary majority in a historic election result that put South Africa on a new political path, in which the ANC was forced to form the Government of National Unity (GNU) with the DA and other small parties.

jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za

IOL News  

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