The SA Communist Party (SACP) has condemned the Democratic Alliance’s list of desired posts in the government of national unity, saying President Cyril Ramaphosa must go ahead and appoint his executive, with or without the blue party.
In the May 29 general elections, the ANC received its worst election result since apartheid ended 30 years ago in South Africa. The ANC garnered 40% of the vote, losing its absolute majority in Parliament.
IOL last week reported that Ramaphosa had officially begun his second term after his party formulated the government of national unity (GNU), incorporating its decades-old rival, the Democratic Alliance (DA) and other smaller parties, including the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Patriotic Alliance (PA).
On Monday, IOL reported that as parties invited by the ANC into the GNU put forward their demands in the power-sharing arrangement, the DA demanded 12 Cabinet posts in the government of national unity.
In the widely circulated letter, written on Sunday, DA federal chair Helen Zille informed ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula that her party also wants the position of deputy president of South Africa.
In reaction to the DA’s desires, the SACP, an alliance partner of the ANC, said the blue party is seeking to exclude other political parties from the government of national unity.
“Our preference is that of a minority government with GNU characteristics. If you look at the characteristics of forces that have emerged, which is what actually has irked the DA, it is that all other parties that have come on board make up 200 seats, excluding the DA and the influence that it seeks to wield,” said SACP spokesperson Dr Alex Mashilo in an interview with SABC.
“The DA is fighting back to exclude the other parties so that it brings down the ANC’s 40% to the level of its 20%, so that becomes a party that exercises veto power in the interest of the so-called sufficient consensus, which is not sufficient consensus at all.
“So, the situation we have at present … allow the president to appoint the deputy president and ministers, and proceed, with or without the DA. That is where we are at the moment,” he said.
This week, the SACP concluded its bimonthly political bureau meeting which called on Ramaphosa to “move swiftly” to appoint the deputy president, ministers and deputy ministers in the seventh administration of South Africa.
IOL