Amid GNU crisis, KZN ANC pledges continued partnership with DA in provincial government

While the Government of National Unity (GNU) teeters on the brink of collapse because of rising political differences between the ANC and Democratic Alliance, the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has reaffirmed its commitment to working with the DA under the auspices of the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU).

Speaking at the stakeholders' engagement with various professionals under the Progressive Professional Forum in Durban on Tuesday, the provincial task team coordinator Mike Mabuyakhulu assured the people of the province that the ANC is very much committed to the coalition arrangement that is governing the province.

“Compatriots, the fact of the matter is that we lost in 2024. The GPU is a tactic we adopted so that we could maintain a hold on state power, otherwise, we risked being relegated to opposition benches, where we would have been less effective. It is a tactical move, not a strategic one.

“However, having said that we want to reiterate our commitment to the GPU. The only certain way that the ANC can exit the GPU, other than sharp differences in approach or realignment among GPU partners, is by winning a decisive victory at the next polls.”

Mabuyakhulu’s assurance of keeping the GPU under the current format in the province which includes the DA, implied that even if the ANC national leadership decides to cut ties with the DA nationally, the party will continue working with it in the province.

The GPU in the province is led by the IFP partnering with the ANC, DA, and the National Freedom Party.

The ANC national leadership is currently mulling whether it would dump the DA or continue working with it in the GNU despite their rising differences which were sparked by the DA’s rejection of the Value Added Tax increase.

At the weekend, the party’s national working committee decided against firing the DA, instead calling for further consultations with the party and other parties outside the GNU on measures to grow the economy and avoid tax increases.

Mabuyakhulu warned that the revolution is not a straight line, saying by their nature, revolutions are full of twists and turns and there are bound to be mistakes and missteps.

He acknowledged that in addition to the external factors that contributed to poor performance, a gap may have developed between the party and the progressive professionals, which meant that in 2024, the party went to war with some of its most effective soldiers not fully mobilised for the war effort.

“Through this morning’s engagement, we are formally starting the process of rebuilding and recalibrating the relationship that we have with progressive professionals. We have heeded the call of the progressive professionals, and we are intervening decisively by boldly declaring that never again shall it be that progressive professionals would feel themselves supernumerary to the struggle,” concluded Mabuyakhulu.

The party announced a series of similar engagements lined up for a week with various sectors including religious groups, business forums, civil society bodies, and gender activists. 

The party said these engagements are a precursor to the planned National Dialogue.

willem.phungula@inl.co.za