DA's GNU budget vote threat

The government of national unity (GNU) is facing its most serious crisis to date, with the DA threatening to withhold its support when the government presents its budget in parliament next month should its interests be ignored.

Tensions are expected to come to a head when a cabinet lekgotla meets this week, with DA insiders complaining the party’s ministers are “being treated as spectators” in the GNU, which was formed when the ANC failed to gain a 50% majority in elections last year.

DA leader John Steenhuisen yesterday ruled out quitting the GNU, saying this would result in “consequences for governance”. But he said the DA might refuse to support the budget, which would undermine the progress that has been made in restoring investor confidence.

Should the DA pull out of the GNU, the ANC might seek new partners such as the EFF or the MK Party, the “doomsday coalition” that Steenhuisen warned about ahead of the election last year.

Tension, principally between the ANC and the DA, has always been high in the seven-month-old GNU, fuelled by ANC-backed legislation such as the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act and the NHI.

The two parties achieved a truce over Bela, but conflict has now intensified due to the Expropriation Act, which President Cyril Ramaphosa signed this week.

Insiders told the Sunday Times yesterday that DA leaders are becoming convinced that the ANC does not want the GNU to succeed.

They cited several examples of DA ministers being “snubbed” by Ramaphosa, who faces internal pressure from within the ANC over the collaboration with the party’s long-time foe in the GNU.

The DA has asked for a meeting between Steenhuisen and Ramaphosa this week, ahead of the government lekgotla. The DA’s federal council is also meeting this week to decide on a way forward.

“I fear it may all be coming to an end. The ANC doesn’t seem really to want a GNU anymore,” said a DA insider.

“The underlying problem is CR [Ramaphosa] doesn’t see the need to negotiate or even discuss anything. John [Steenhuisen] sent him a letter on NHI setting out our issues and suggesting various constructive alternatives, and asking to meet before the lekgotla on Wednesday and the reply was, 'We have sent your letter to the minister of health and the president is not available for a meeting.'

We are not going to be spectators in a government in which we bring a large part of the votes

—  John Steenhuisen , DA leader

“If CR doesn’t call John before Wednesday then it will be a bloodbath at the lekgotla and who knows what happens next.”

But yesterday Steenhuisen, minister of agriculture in the GNU, told the Sunday Times: “We are staying on because we understand there are going to be consequences for governance in South Africa if we simply walk away.

“We have to make the GNU work. We are committed to making the GNU work. What is required is a reset in relations between the parties in the GNU. If we are not able to achieve that reset in relations, then obviously we will have to consider our options going forward.

“We are not going to be spectators in a government in which we bring a large part of the votes. There’s no coalition in the world where a party that got the most votes feels it’s got the right to implement its own policy agenda regardless of the views and opinions of the [other] parties to the coalition.”

Other parties in the GNU, such as the IFP and the FF+,  were also against Ramaphosa signing the Expropriation Bill into law.

Steenhuisen yesterday issued an apparent ultimatum to Ramaphosa, declaring a formal dispute within the GNU over his decision to enact the bill. He  said an “urgent reset in relations” was needed in the coalition government.

The DA minister of public works, Dean Macpherson, who is charged with implementing the Expropriation Act, is believed to have submitted a legal opinion to the president saying the legislation was unconstitutional. But Ramaphosa ignored this. 

The act allows the minister of public works to expropriate land without compensation in the public interest.

Steenhuisen said the DA’s declaration of a formal dispute on Friday included its reservations about NHI.

In terms of clause 20 of the GNU statement of intent, parties in the GNU must now establish a dispute resolution process or deadlock-breaking mechanism.

Steenhuisen said the declaration of a dispute was not an ultimatum but his party would not support this year’s budget should the DA be ignored.

“This is not an ultimatum. Partners don’t give each other ultimatums. But it is a very clear call for a mature reset in relationships in the GNU,” he said.

“There’s no deadline, but ... I will say this: the medium-term development plan needs to pass, [and] the budget needs to be passed a little bit later this year. And if the DA is not satisfied that our voices have been heard, those would be the backstops for any coalition government in the world.”

Those who have been doubtful about the efficacy of our participation in the GNU, and even doubting whether we will be able to continue to execute the policies of our movement that are meant to advance the interests of our people, will have to see whether we are deviating or staying the course, and we ask them

—  President Cyril Ramaphosa

Macpherson, who flanked Steenhuisen in addressing media yesterday, said the legal advice he obtained and shared with Ramaphosa confirmed the expropriation law was unconstitutional, as sections 7, 8 and 19 of the statute contradicted each other on the settlement of compensation for expropriation.

“The problem with [sections] 7 and 8 is that the expropriating authority could say the value [of expropriated land] is nil when that is not the true or just and equitable value.

“And then it is up to the individual affected to go and fight that themselves, and that in itself is not just and equitable.

“[However], section 19 allows for a structured mediation and negotiation process that involves the court to determine the just and equitable outcome. And so [the provisions] are vastly different — in fact, they are polar opposites,” said Macpherson.

The DA said its lawyers were already drafting papers to challenge implementation of the act in court.

Deputy President Paul Mashatile told journalists that Macpherson should resign if he was not keen to implement the legislation.

But Macpherson hit back, saying only Steenhuisen could ask him to quit his cabinet post.

Ramaphosa told the ANC national executive committee lekgotla yesterday that naysayers who have been anti-GNU should eat humble pie as the ANC had been able to implement its policies. 

“Those who have been doubtful about the efficacy of our participation in the GNU, and even doubting whether we will be able to continue to execute the policies of our movement that are meant to advance the interests of our people, will have to see whether we are deviating or staying the course, and we ask them,” said Ramaphosa. 

This comes as many, including the SACP, have labelled the Ramaphosa-led ANC as having sold out by getting into bed with the DA, suggesting that the government will not be able to fully implement party policies.