Dr Wonder Mahlatsi, leader of the United Africans Transformation, says the party has officially withdrawn from the Government of National Unity. (Photo: OJ Koloti / Gallo Images) 
The United Africans Transformation (UAT) has officially pulled out of the Government of National Unity (GNU), alleging bad faith negotiations by the African National Congress (ANC).
The UAT, which did not receive any ministerial posts or chairperson positions in the committee portfolios, announced its decision to join the opposition benches alongside the Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and the African Transformation Movement (ATM).
UAT has one seat in the National Assembly following the 29 May general elections.
The UAT’s withdrawal marks it as the only party not accommodated within the GNU, despite initially being part of the progressive caucus and joining the GNU late, as did the Pan Africanist Congress, United Democratic Movement and Al Jama-ah.
The latter three parties received deputy ministerial posts when President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his Cabinet.
UAT leader Dr Wonder Mahlatsi explained that the UAT’s decision to honour an invitation from the ANC to join the GNU was in line with its goal of promoting democratic governance and accountability for the betterment of the people’s lives. The UAT signed a statement of intent on 25 June 2024, agreeing that no party would issue a media statement until all parties received a signed statement from the ANC secretary-general’s office.
“They requested an opportunity to provide a report to their leaders, and that sounded reasonable to us,” Mahlatsi said. “We would like to state that to date, we have not received signed documents from the ANC secretary-general’s office, and it took us by surprise to hear the President of the Republic announcing that the UAT is part of GNU. This happened during his announcement of the Cabinet.”
Mahlatsi explained the delay in making the party’s withdrawal public, saying that the party first wrote a letter to the ANC secretary-general on 1 July, seeking clarity on the matter but had not received any response.
“We were again referred to the ANC parliamentary chief whip to iron out some internal parliamentary processes in relation to our portfolio allocation. A meeting between UAT and ANC officials was set for the week ending 7 July 2024, which also did not materialise.”
He added that the UAT also received an indication from the ANC deputy secretary-general, Nomvula Monkonyanye, that the ANC’s National Executive Committee would possibly look into the matter. However, no communication or feedback was provided to the UAT, he said.
“We, therefore, distance ourselves from being part of GNU and pull out of the negotiations, for the simple reason that the ANC was negotiating in bad faith and undermined our existence,” Mahlatsi said.
He emphasised that the UAT was a principled and procedural organisation that stood for the development and dignity of Africans. “We can’t accept such unfair and bad treatment by the ANC.”
The ANC and the President’s office had not responded to questions at the time of publication. The comments will be added once received. DM