Gwede Mantashe, Member of the National Assembly of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, and Paul Mashatile, Deputy President of South Africa, during the African National Congress (ANC) Special National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at Cape Sun Hotel on 13 June 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Ziyaad Douglas) 
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said the party believed it had reached a “major breakthrough” and the majority of South African political parties agreed on the need to work together “to move the country forward”.
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Mbalula was speaking at a press conference on the Government of National Unity (GNU) after the ANC’s National Executive Committee’s (NEC’s) special meeting in Cape Town on Thursday afternoon and evening. The meeting took place on the eve of the inaugural sitting of Parliament that will see a President and National Assembly Speaker elected on Friday.
“We have engaged, like we said, with a number of political parties and we have reached a breakthrough on the common agreement that we need to work together…
“We have agreed that, as political parties, we need to gravitate towards the centre, except a few, who did not expressly support the GNU. We are not going to retreat on the concept of the GNU because we believe that the government of national unity, to us, represents the outcome of the elections,” Mbalula said.
However, he kept mum on details of the discussions between parties.
“The ANC is not yet in a position to give details in relation to these discussions. We started exploratory discussions and that led to firming up positions by political parties, and us as well, firming up our position, which you know by now is [a] government of national unity,” he said.
“Agreements will be made public in the interest of transparency and accountability to the electorate.”
Mbalula said the ANC was “humbled” by the fact that “the spirit of engagement with all South Africa’s political parties has been characterised by the common commitment to put the interest of the people first”.
He said the ANC was “in no position” to govern South Africa alone. The party received 40.2% of the vote in the general elections, nosediving by 17 percentage points from 57.5% in 2019.
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“We are not afraid of a government of national unity. We will work within this government to represent the interests of six million and more South Africans who want to see change,” Mbalula said.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ED_508817.jpg "ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula arriving at the African National Congress (ANC) Special National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at Cape Sun Hotel on 13 June 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Ziyaad Douglas)")
GNU phenomenon
The secretary-general said the ANC had met with 17 political parties to discuss the GNU.
“We hope that we will work with many of them in the election of the President and the Speaker. I am not in the position, at the present moment, to deal with the details, as that is a matter that is still in discussion.”
Mbalula said the ANC had engaged with the DA, the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and the United Democratic Movement (UDM) and all had agreed on the GNU.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on Wednesday formally announced that it would join the government of national unity, with party leader Velenkosini Hlabisa calling it “the will of the people”.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Inkatha to join government of national unity — it’s ‘the will of the people’
Mbalula added the ANC had also engaged with Al Jama-ah and the National Coloured Congress (NCC), which “had reservations” about the GNU. The ANC had also spoken to Rise Mzansi, which Mbalula said “did not have challenges, except matters of the detail”, but was not fundamentally opposed to a GNU.
The ANC had also engaged with the Freedom Front Plus, which had “agreed to the GNU”.
On the outside looking in
Earlier on Thursday evening, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) announced that it would not be part of the government of national unity.
“We have made it very clear to the President that we are not against the government of national unity, we are against the inclusion of the DA and the Freedom Front Plus,” EFF leader Julius Malema told reporters.
Mbalula said the ANC and the EFF had exploratory conversations, but “did not find each other on the issue of the GNU. We have accepted that particular point — we move on.”
He said the ANC had also engaged in exploratory talks with the uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party, and that the ANC would continue to engage with them in “exploratory discussions”.
Earlier this week, the MK party announced that its 58 MPs would boycott the first sitting of the National Assembly on Friday. Their absence will not prevent the vote from proceeding.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Fact check — can an MK party boycott prevent Parliament from electing a President?
Mbalula said the ANC had not spoken to United Africans Transformation (UAT) or ActionSA, but the party remained open to engaging with them.
After receiving 1.2% of the national vote, it seems ActionSA has decided to not be part of a GNU or coalition government, but to mould itself as the unofficial opposition. In a statement on Monday announcing its national and provincial lists, the party said, “The calibre of ActionSA leaders going to the National Assembly will clearly have the ActionSA caucus punching far above its weight.
“ActionSA’s senate, reflecting upon the dynamics arising from the 2024 elections, concluded that ActionSA must work to fill the void left by an opposition that will likely be co-opted into governing with the ANC.” DM