President Ramaphosa pictured with DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille. File Picture: Henk Kruger/Independent Newspapers
Cape Town - While the ANC national executive committee was locked in talks until late last night, several organisations have come out against a possible coalition agreement with the DA.
As speculation grew yesterday that the ANC would form a coalition with the DA, the Black Business Council (BBC) warned that a coalition between the ANC and the DA would have dire consequences for not just black businesses, but also for the previously and currently disadvantaged black majority in dire need of redress and transformation.
“Given South Africa’s past and current economic divide, the so-called merit-based system that the DA is proposing will favour white people with historically better resources to the detriment of the black majority,” said the BBC.
It said: “On an ideological and pragmatic level, the ANC and the DA are diametrically opposed to each other so much that it would be nearly impossible for each party to explain this union to their supporters. At a policy level, a union between the ANC and the DA threatens the many gains that the ANC has made over the last decade.
“The DA campaigned on repealing progressive and race-based legislation, including the broad-based black economic empowerment, National Health Insurance, the Expropriation Bill, and removing racial targets and quotas from the Employment Equity and Preferential Procurement Acts. Repealing these acts and policies will lead to regression at a time when more transformation and redress are needed.”
Meanwhile, the United Independent Movement (UIM) has resigned from the Multi-Party Charter (MPC), which is known as the Moonshot Pact and consists of several political parties such as the DA and ActionSA, with the aim of forming a coalition against the ANC.
A few months ago, the UIM decided to enter into an agreement with other parties with a common goal in mind: to achieve a 50% plus 1 majority, never to co-govern or go into any coalition with the ANC and EFF, and for such an agreement to remain intact post the 2024 elections, irrespective of the outcome.
“We are disappointed that these goals were not achieved. Even more so with the fact that some of the parties to this agreement, which the UIM upheld throughout and had the fullest intention to uphold for the duration of the MPC’s existence, felt differently and indicated their willingness and desire to enter into negotiations and coalition talks with the ANC at the last meeting of the MPC leadership,” the UIM said.
Ambrosé du Plessis, lecturer at the Department of Public Administration and Management, University of the Free State, said political parties’ flip-flopping will be the Achilles heel for any sustainable coalition talks.
He said: “For example, the Multi-Party Charter solemnly swore not to work or co-govern with the ANC, EFF, and similar affiliates, setting a dangerous precedent for dishonesty and destroying the moral fibre of an already ailing society that still lingers from state capture.”
“Tracking coalition agreements, which have predominantly taken place behind closed doors, suggests that we are heading for a secret coalition agreement that dictates the will of the political parties and not the citizenry,” said Du Plessis.
Independent Media journalist Sipho Jack reported that a group of ANC members protested outside the Birchwood Hotel in Ekurhuleni, where the party was to discuss the way forward on who would be suitable candidates to co-govern with it after it failed to achieve 50% of the vote to hold office in this year’s elections.
The protest was led by former president Jacob Zuma’s daughter Thuthukile Zuma, who characterised the DA as a “racist organisation”.
Zuma said the aim of the protest was to send a message that the DA didn’t have a place in the government of national unity (GNU) that was about to be put in place pending successful negotiations.
“This is the same DA that burned down our flag a few months ago. They have no patriotism, and they stand diametrically opposed to transformation,” she added.
zolani.sinxo@inl.co.za
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