By: Rusana Philander
Political party leaders are increasingly confident that the new Government of National Unity (GNU) will bring further stability to the country’s economy. For the first time in its 30-year democratic history, South Africa is being led by a coalition of political parties, spearheaded by the ANC. In addition to the Congress, the other members of this coalition include the Democratic Alliance (DA), the Patriotic Alliance (PA), the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), United Democratic Movement (UDM) and the Freedom Front Plus.
Despite the coalition, the ANC has still retained key ministries such as Finance and Trade and Industry. With the new government about six months old, optimism is growing that this marriage of convenience will herald fresh beginnings for the country. For starters, the country has not experienced any load-shedding since March 2023. In addition, the market is doing much better, while the rand is on a much stronger trajectory. On a recent investment drive in London, Deputy President, Paul Mashatile, said that South Africa is open for business.
“We could be growing at about 1.5%, but we want to grow the economy particularly through infrastructure investment. By building new roads, dams and new railway lines.
However, financial analysts opine that the country needs more sustained growth.
Incidentally, the ANC had an uncharacteristic poor showing at the last polls. Though the party retained 62% of its cabinet posts and 76% of its deputy minister portfolios, it received only 40.18% of the national vote after they once garnered in 60%. The rest of the crumbs were gobbled up by the DA (Democratic Alliance)-21.8% , and the newly formed MK (Umkhonto We Sizwe) Party which got 14.59 %. Even in its traditional strongholds like KwaZulu Natal, the ANC only won 45.3% of the votes.
Political analysts have been left pondering the reasons for this decline. For starters, the ANC’s poor showing has not been helped by the emergence of a new political party, the MK (Umkhonto We Sizwe) Party. Led by the popular and often-times controversial former ANC leader and President, Jacob Zuma, the party has been described as a break-away faction of the ANC. Zuma has a big following in KwaZulu Natal. While he is not representing his party in parliament, his daughter Duduzile Zuma has been nominated as one of the MPs.
What has followed has been a delicate game of political compromise between the ANC and its coalition partners. The DA, for instance, reportedly coveted the Ministry of Trade and Industry, a request that was denied by the ANC. At the end, the jostle for ministerial positions resulted in the DA gaining six posts. The Patriotic Alliance, Inkatha Freedom Party and Freedom Front Plus, all received one cabinet post each. Since then, the marriage between the partners has not been entirely rosy. Helen Zille from the DA said they were worried about the financial markets and that after the GNU was formed, things became stable. Zille also caused some controversy when she said that it was not a GNU but a coalition. However, the ANC’s First Deputy Secretary General who was part of the negotiations team of the GNU hit back and said that “the DA was a guest in the new government.
The party who got the highest votes in the elections invited the other parties into the GNU.” Zille hit back to say; “We knew that the ANC was going to need a big party to go into coalition with and we knew that MK was going to be a game changer. They took 45% of the vote in KwaZulu Natal. They did better than we expected.”
All of this back and forth has not helped in creating the impression of perfect harmony in the GNU. This even led Fikile Mbalula, the ANC’s Secretay-General to assert the party’s position thus: “We are in charge of the government of national unity. From the beginning we said that we do not want a coalition but a government of national unity and that is what we have. Earlier on, negotiations with the DA collapsed because we could not agree on the GNU. The ANC is a big party and we consulted widely, telling people what a GNU is. The country’s interest was important, and we wanted stability,” Mbalula said.
What is important is that President Cyril Ramaphosa has been inaugurated for a second term as President. The inauguration itself was attended by fellow heads of states including Namibian President, Dr Nangolo Mbumba, and Burundi’s Gervais Ndirakobuca. Upon announcing his cabinet, Ramaphosa said it was in the interest of the stability of the country:
“Voters wanted parties to work together and this why we agreed that a government of national unity should be formed. This government of national unity is unprecedented in our democratic history. Through the ballots voters have casted, they made it clear that leaders of our country should work together. We had to consider our people and the stability of the government we are establishing. The establishment of multi-parties takes long. We had to ensure that the incoming government will be effective.”
Some major changes occasioned by this merger include the retirement of the long-serving Minister of Trade and Industry, Ebrahim Patel. Known for protecting South Africa’s industries, he is on record to have stated that during the 15 years he was minister in charge of this portfolio, the world changed significantly. “The challenge of climate change has become more urgent, geopolitical tensions are sharper, volatility is now baked into economies.” It remains to be seen how this new political configuration tackles current and emerging challenges.
For Dawie Roodt a South African Economist , the outlook remains, at least, positive. “I am feeling optimistic about South Africa’s economic future. It is expected that this government of national unity will stimulate economic growth and stabilize the markets. It was a good decision to retain Minister Godongwana.(the minister of finance) Electricity is also important to the country and the Minister (Kgosientsho Ramokgopa) did quite a good job at Eskom. And that department is getting more private sector participation. With regards to the transport sector the CEO of Transnet is also doing a great job.”