The ANC’s national working committee (NWC) is considering five options to reconfigure the government of national unity (GNU) after several standoffs with the DA.
The Sunday Times understands that ANC heavyweight David Makhura — a member of the party’s GNU subcommittee — presented a report on this to the NWC on Monday.
Insiders said the NWC did not adopt the five options, instead resolving to have the party’s officials and the committee refine its proposal before they are presented to the party’s national executive committee (NEC).
In April, the ANC resolved to reconfigure the GNU after the DA rejected the budget presented by finance minister Enoch Godongwana, challenging it in court. The ANC took a decision to consult its GNU partners and reset relations to avoid another impasse.
ANC leaders said the first option tabled was to remove the DA from the GNU and invite ActionSA, Bosa and the National Coloured Congress to join it.
This option is likely to be favoured by the party’s national executive committee (NEC), which has been baying for blood after the DA rejected the budget. It is also supported by the ANC caucus, which in May cornered secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and demanded the DA’s removal.
The second option is to retain the DA but to include the three small parties that worked with the ANC during its first attempt to pass the budget. ActionSA and Bosa were commended by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who told ANC MPs they had a “more co-operative and practical type of disposition”.
A third option is for the ANC to enter into a supply and confidence agreement with the EFF. The NWC is said to have proposed this option to guarantee that the EFF would not support a vote of no confidence against Ramaphosa, should it be tabled by the DA.
“That supply and confidence agreement may include having the EFF play a role in parliament, such as the speaker or deputy speaker. But that role would be limited to parliament and not [include] the executive,” one insider said.
A supply and confidence agreement is similar to a minority government, where one or more supporting parties form a pact to support the government in important votes, in exchange for policy concessions or involvement in the legislative process.
It allows minority governments to function without formal coalitions, providing flexibility and ensuring multiple political perspectives.
A fourth option would be for the ANC to form a minority government. The party explored this option last year, when it lost majority support in the elections.
Insiders said a final option would be to collapse government and hold fresh elections.
“If it’s impossible to work with the EFF, the worst-case scenario is that we may have to accept that the country has to go to fresh elections — you have no-one to hold the current government,” said one source.
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the ANC does not comment on internal discussions. She said the ANC insists Sunday Times “respect our internal processes and desist from dangers of a single story”.
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