The DA in Gauteng has threatened to pull out of government of national unity as negotiations between it and the ANC over MEC positions deadlocked this weekend.
The stalemate came as premier Panyaza Lesufi was preparing to announce his executive at 2pm on Sunday.
Gauteng remains the only province without a cabinet after the May 29 national and provincial elections that left it with a hung legislature.
It is unclear whether Lesufi will go ahead in announcing his cabinet on Sunday after the DA threatened to pull out if the ANC refused to accede to some of its demands.
The DA wanted the executive to reflect the proportional representation of the members who are part of the GNU in the province. But the ANC is believed to have rejected this. The ANC achieved 34.7% at the polls, amounting to 28 seats with the DA hot on its heels with 27.4% or 22 seats.
The IFP only has one seat after obtaining a meagre 0.87% of votes in the province.
A proportional representation of seats in the provincial cabinet means that the ANC and DA would get an almost equal number of MEC positions. But DA provincial leader Solly Msimanga has told his caucus that the ANC was refusing to give in to its demand for proportional representation in the executive.
This, Msimanga said in his WhatsApp note, may result in the DA pulling out of the GNU in the province and occupying the opposition benches.
..we will step aside and take our opposition seats
“We received a letter from the ANC provincial secretary early evening, basically stating that they were not prepared to move from their position and that they would proceed to make the announcement of the provincial cabinet [on Sunday],” wrote Msimanga.
“We wrote back to them, stating that until we address the issue of proportional representation, fair deduction per party when other parties are added on to the GNU, discussion of portfolio allocations, decision-making mechanisms, dispute resolution forums, then we will not be forming any kind of government with them.”
He said that should the ANC insist on continuing with its decision to announce the provincial cabinet on Sunday then the DA would pull out.
“So, should they not be willing to engage us today and insist on announcing a cabinet without us addressing [the] points raised above, we will step aside and take our opposition seats,” he said.
When contacted by the Sunday Times, Msimanga said he could not comment on internal matters, while the ANC in Gauteng could not be reached for comment.
DA insiders however said that the ANC stance on these discussions was alarming because they had been negotiating in good faith.
Insiders said that the DA has shown interest in working together — to the point that they even voted for Lesufi to retain his position and for the ANC speaker of the legislature — before any agreement was signed.
The ANC has however not been forthcoming in the province, the DA insider said, as they insist on keeping seven of 10 MEC positions. This has now become a sore point with the DA saying that should the ANC insist on this position they will have to withdraw.
“Remember we elected Panyaza [Lesufi] without a signed deal and we were doing this because we wanted to show that we want to do this in good faith,” said the insider.
“So now they are dilly dallying, and we think it’s more internal battles because they have now lost power and there’s no agreement on who should be left out.”
The insider was referring to the ANC’s decision to allow more smaller parties to join the GNU. “They now want to get maximum numbers [seven departments] but unfortunately their internal squabbles are affecting everyone else.”
The joining of other parties has seemingly destabilised the provincial GNU as the DA says the ANC doesn’t want their number of MECs to be affected — only that of the DA.
“On our side, we wanted to move [reach an agreement] but we can’t now because we said we wanted proportional representation when they get seven seats and we get three,” said the DA insider.
“But that can’t work now because there are other parties as well [in the provincial GNU] that we are willing to accommodate but how we then accommodate it is that the ANC will lose a seat, then we lose a seat, which would’ve been fair but now they are saying they must get their seven regardless.”
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