ANC national chair Gwede Mantashe has warned DA federal leader Helen Zille against acting like a “parallel president”, calling her behaviour the biggest threat to the survival of the government of national unity (GNU).
Mantashe, who is mineral resources minister in the GNU, made his remarks in an interview at his offices in Cape Town on the day President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed a joint sitting of parliament in which he outlined the work ahead for the GNU cabinet.
Ramaphosa said parties in the GNU had agreed to a statement of intent to “come together, despite their differences, because they share a commitment to a nation that is united, prosperous and inclusive”. GNU partners closed ranks behind the president, with all parties represented giving a thumbs-up to his remarks.
Mantashe said the GNU parties “are moving closer to each other”, but accused Zille of wanting the DA’s ministers to regard her as the boss. This, he said, could precipitate the collapse of the power-sharing deal.
The ANC chair said his criticism of Zille was based on what he sees and reads when he logs on to social media.
Officials in his office said he was referring to Zille’s public statements on social media and in media interviews. They cited an interview Zille gave to Newzroom Afrika in which she said the president does not control all ministries and that ministers have “relative autonomy” to run their departments.
Mantashe’s comments came as the Presidency moved to ensure the cabinet speaks with one voice by beefing up its policy co-ordination & advisory services (PCAS) structure, which will act as a gatekeeper for policy and programmes from ministers.
Zille said Saturday she was doing a comparison with “the German system that facilitates coalition governments” when she made the comment on Newszroom Afrika. She said it was crucial for the future of South Africa for the GNU to be kept intact.
“I think the predictable consequences of the GNU collapsing are one of the main reasons that will hold it together. It is absolutely essential for SA's future that it should work,” she said.
Mantashe told the Sunday Times that for the GNU to survive its full five-year term would require “maturity” on the part of all involved.
“One thing we must never assume is that all of us are the same. There will be disagreements. A government of this nature requires maturity. It requires people to disabuse themselves of the narrative they developed for campaigning. Appreciate that it’s not campaigning now,’’ he said.
“We must make the government work to the benefit of South Africans… If we can’t do that it will collapse, I can assure you. My own view is that at this point in time the signs are that we are moving closer to each other, rather than working to collapse it.
“The only worry, when I open social media, is when we have a parallel president called Helen Zille outside, who wants DA ministers to account to her. She is going to collapse it if she continues because we are not going to have a parallel government run by Helen Zille.
“There is one president here and that president is Cyril Ramaphosa. And that’s it. Ministers in government understand that. External interference must be corrected,” said Mantashe.
Zille raised eyebrows several weeks ago, on the eve of the appointment of the new cabinet, when she maintained the GNU statement of intent laid out how the president should distribute portfolios.
This was in response to a post by Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, who said there was no constitutional provision that says the president should allocate ministers proportionally.
But Zille was adamant: “Nothing in the constitution prevents an agreement stipulating how a constitutional prerogative will be exercised.”
We have a parallel president called Helen Zille outside, who wants DA ministers to account to her. She is going to collapse it if she continues
The minister of monitoring & evaluation in the Presidency, Maropene Ramokgopa, said the Presidency would use the PCAS to ensure ministers toed the line and implemented programmes in line with the statement of intent.
Ramokgopa told the Sunday Times Ramaphosa had given her additional powers to keep the GNU ministers in check. Through the PCAS, Ramokgopa said she would be able to ensure ministers strictly followed the policy decisions agreed to in the GNU statement of intent and did not try to implement the policies of their own parties.
There are concerns in the ANC that Ramaphosa might struggle to hold non-ANC ministers accountable.
Ramokgopa said the PCAS would be a buffer between individual ministers and the executive collective, similar to the role played by presidential adviser Joel Netshitenzhe during former president Thabo Mbeki’s presidency.
Before proposing any programme to the cabinet, ministers would first have to present it to the PCAS, which could approve or reject the proposal based on the statement of intent.
“So there is absolutely no policy, no programme or no activity, that would go to cabinet before it goes to the PCAS … to assess its quality, but also to assess if it is in line with the policy or the plan that we have all adopted as the GNU.”
Ramokgopa said the cabinet lekgotla convened a week ago unanimously agreed on a programme of action that took into account the statement of intent, all 11 party manifestos, priorities as well key performance indicators. She said all the parties had agreed to this because they could “see their own manifestos” in the plans.
“Now we're taking it through the process of cabinet committee, then it will be adopted in cabinet. So it means that the PCAS will have to make sure that the APPs [Annual Performance Plans] of different departments are aligned with that agreement that we have, which is a plan of the entire government,” she said.
“So anything that is outside of that will be kicked out, we will write back to the department to say, ‘No, it can’t come through because it is contradicting the plan that we all agreed upon.’”
Ramokgopa said the PCAS function ensured there would be “no crisis” of incompatible policy aims.
“The PCAS will buffer, as you’re saying there’s a plan that we all agreed upon that is a plan of the government, not the government of the DA or the ANC, but a plan that the cabinet as a whole has agreed and adopted and passed. We all stick to that,” she said.
“Anything that’s not in line with that won’t go to the cabinet and you can’t implement anything that is not being passed by the cabinet; you can’t, it doesn’t work that way. So there is no crisis here, we are fine.”
Some ministers from GNU member parties have been quick out the blocks with proposals that are likely to meet with opposition.
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