President Cyril Ramaphosa took South Africa’s nascent GNU to the world stage this week, telling the UN General Assembly: “South Africa is in a new era; an era of great promise.”
As the GNU approaches its first 100 days, Ramaphosa has every reason to be proud, as does the country, with the 62% of voters backing the GNU partners presumably reasonably happy with the outcome.
He arguably snatched victory from the jaws of defeat after an election in which the ANC polled just short of 40%. While still the biggest party, it lured no fewer than nine other parties into the GNU fold, the main prize being the opposition DA.
With the DA having based its election campaign on averting a “doomsday coalition” of the EFF and ANC, the election results meant it could hardly turn its back on the ANC's GNU offer for fear of the alternative. It is a factor that presumably ensures the DA will remain in the GNU regardless of temporary setbacks, if it reckons that the future of the country is at stake.
Arguably, Ramaphosa's toughest task was in persuading his ANC colleagues to enter a GNU with the DA as its principal partner, a tie-up that riled those who might have preferred the EFF. In choosing the DA over the EFF, Ramaphosa affirmed the desire expressed by the great majority for stability and continuity in government. However, it also opened the GNU to claims of being a “sell-out” to white capital.
Expecting the GNU ... to fix all the ills of the country is unrealistic. But it has made a good start.
Certainly, the GNU has been welcomed by the markets. It is seen as business-friendly, a perception reinforced by the end of load-shedding and an incipient turnaround at Transnet and the country’s ports. Politically, the new governance arrangement has ticked along fairly smoothly so far.
While still pursuing overwhelmingly ANC-type policies and signing into law bills on preferential procurement, education reform and national health insurance, Ramaphosa has also shown flexibility. This is necessary in a situation in which the opposition in government is eager to be seen as having some influence.
This week’s changing of the guard in Tshwane, in which the ANC, EFF and ActionSA teamed up to depose DA mayor Cilliers Brink, will have disappointed those who had hoped the GNU would be replicated at local level.
While disquieting to those who see the GNU model involving co-operation between the ANC and the DA as essential to moving the country forward, the Tshwane power play suggests there are powerful ANC figures who see the EFF as a more natural ally than the DA.
Competition at local level is likely to become even more pointed as the 2026 local elections loom. At national level, all the parties will be trying to show their constituents that participation in the GNU has delivered tangible results. To the extent that they are not able to do so, the GNU’s future will be at risk.
Most important, though, is the direction in which the GNU has sought to steer the country. Its hallmarks have been moderation and an inclusive approach, eschewing the radical populism of the EFF, MKP and elements in the ANC who would happily see the back of Ramaphosa.
Expecting the GNU, in its intended five-year span, to fix all the ills of the country is unrealistic. But it has made a good start, and there is much to be thankful for and be proud of as South Africans.
However, the work of building unity and turning South Africa into a prosperous, more inclusive and equitable society will require a national consensus on the country’s goals. Which makes the imperative of starting the much-talked-about national dialogue an urgent one.
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