The product of frantic, hurried negotiations after a bombshell election, the government of national unity appears to be held together, more than anything else, by a mutual realisation that an alternative arrangement would be the death knell for South African democracy, writes parliamentary journalist Jan Gerber.
As soon-to-be-sworn-in MPs filtered into the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Friday, 14 June 2024, it was far from clear how that day would play out, in sharp contrast to previous first sittings of the National Assembly.
After previous elections, it was certain what the outcome of the first sitting would be: Speaker; ANC deputy speaker; ANC president.
But the elections barely two weeks before 14 June razed to ashes any notion of predictability in South African politics.
The smart money was on some form of power-sharing arrangement between the two biggest parties - the ANC and DA. But the deal was far from done; an outcome which could result in a deputy president Julius Malema or finance minister Floyd Shivambu was still conceivable.
Ink barely dry on statement of intent
As it turned out, final drafts of what would become the statement of intent bounced virtually between the ANC's Andries Nel and the DA's Helen Zille while MPs were being sworn in. The ink was barely dry on the signed agreement when the first election of the day took place. The ANC's Thoko Didiza was elected National Assembly speaker - with the DA's support. A new DA MP told colleagues he didn't expect his first act in Parliament would be to vote with the ANC.
Then it was time for the election of the deputy speaker. The DA's Siviwe Gwarube nominated her party colleague Annelie Lotriet, who served as her deputy chief whip in the previous term, and DA MP D sir e van der Walt seconded it. The ANC didn't put up a candidate.
This clearly rankled the EFF.
"The madam is in charge!" screamed someone from the EFF benches.
"They are rewriting the history of the ANC," said a new EFF MP backbencher as he walked past the media.
Lotriet was elected, beating African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader Vuyolwethu Zungula, who was nominated by the EFF.
Ramaphosa was nominated for president, along with EFF leader Julius Malema.
'Era of hope'
By that time, the die had been cast and Ramaphosa was announced as the president-elect to a standing ovation from the ANC, DA and IFP - whose leader Valenkosini Hlabisa seconded Ramaphosa's nomination.
The MK Party didn't bless these proceedings with its presence. Corruption-accused former president Jacob Zuma's party played probably the largest role in the ANC losing its majority by garnering 14.58% of the vote nine months after its formation, and about six months after it exploded onto the scene with Zuma announcing his endorsement of the party.
As the government of national unity (GNU) began to take shape, so too did the ironically named "progressive caucus", consisting of the MK Party's populist fellow travellers like the EFF, led by its megalomaniac "commander in chief and president" Malema; the ATM, National Coloured Convention; and United Africans Transformation - the last two winning a seat in the National Assembly for the first time.
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The MK Party, which displaced the EFF as the third biggest party, is inherently anti-democratic. Without any proof, it continues to dispute the election results. Its stated goal is to scrap the Constitution, install parliamentary supremacy and create an upper house of unelected traditional leaders.
It's a party very much in the image of its venal leader: Ethno-nationalistic, fuelled by grievances and conspiracies, and kleptocratic.
In his short speech after his re-election, Ramaphosa said:
This is an era of hope.
"A number of parties have come together to agree to a statement intent to form a government of national unity. This GNU will be constituted not by two or three, but by more parties that want to voluntary participate. I wish to say very clearly that this is not a grand coalition of two or three parties. We have been here before, in 1994, where we sought to unite our country and work together."
In the days that followed, the GNU parties grew from three (ANC, DA and IFP) to ultimately 10 - the ANC, DA, IFP, Freedom Front Plus, Patriotic Alliance (PA), UDM, Rise Mzansi, Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, Al Jamah-ah and GOOD Party, with the populist PA's inclusion proving a sore point for the DA.
This period was also characterised by strained negotiations between the ANC and DA about the number of positions the latter would get in the still-to-be-formed GNU.
Executive announced
Finally, on 30 June, Ramaphosa announced his executive. A GNU was finally formed.
"All the parties have made a commitment to respect the Constitution and to promote accountable and transparent governance, evidence-based policy and decision-making, the professionalisation of the public service, integrity and good governance," Ramaphosa said.
"The establishment of the government of national unity in its current form is unprecedented in the history of our democracy."
This, too, seemed a rather last-minute affair. Days later, when the new executive was sworn in, FF Plus leader Pieter Groenewald admitted his appointment as correctional services minister came as a surprise, as his party had never negotiated with the ANC for positions and had, in fact, turned down MEC positions in the Northern Cape.
But then at 19:10 on the Sunday of Ramaphosa's announcement, he got a call from the president, offering him a Cabinet position. The Cabinet announcement was scheduled for 21:00 but took place closer to 22:00.
It was a strange scene before the new ministers and deputy ministers were sworn in. Old political foes turning into fast friends.
For instance, DA leader John Steenhuisen, upon spotting South African Communist Party leader and long-serving Cabinet member Blade Nzimande, exclaimed: "Hello Blade!" He then promptly introduced him to his wife, Terry Steenhuisen.
Dealing with differences of opinion
Whether this spirit of collegiality would last for the term of five years would come down to the maturity of the political parties, Steenhuisen told News24.
"One of the things that we are going to have to deal with, very quickly, upfront, is how we deal with differences of opinion within the Cabinet," he said.
"I think we can go the distance. I think the other thing that helps is what is sitting on the other side of the benches of Parliament.
There you have a party, and parties, that want to unstitch the Constitution, tear it up, dilute the rule of law and replace elected leaders with appointed leaders. These are all very dangerous things that should worry freedom-loving individuals and people who are at the vanguard of democracy.
"What we need to do is to ensure the rational centre holds because if you open the door for that to come in, we can damage the country irreparably, as we've seen happen where those policies and practices have been applied," Steenhuisen said.
Odd, then, that Steenhuisen would subsequently appoint an outspoken authoritarian as his chief of staff.
The parties in national government, for the first time, not only view their participation in the GNU as a dyke keeping out the rising tide of populism, but also as an opportunity to get their policy proposals on the national agenda.
For the ANC, it is a means to continue what it considers its historic mission to build a democratic, non-racist, non-sexist, prosperous South Africa despite the "temporary setback" of an adverse electoral outcome. In the debate that followed Ramaphosa's Opening of Parliament Address, the so-called progressive caucus reacted with divisiveness and populism, like doing away with Roman-Dutch law and expropriation without compensation.
The GNU parties countered with emphasis on working together to make progress for all South Africans and to be a bulwark against populism.
"When people are faced with the threat of annihilation, they come together, seek one another to overcome their threat for their continued existence and to thrive," said new ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli.
Our democratic breakthrough is under threat, and it is not business as usual.
The debate on the Presidency's budget vote followed a similar pattern, with the progressive caucus attacking constitutionalism and using racially divisive rhetoric to argue Ramaphosa had "sold out" by going into coalition with the "oppressors" and "land thieves".
In response, an unusually assertive Ramaphosa held up the GNU as an opportunity to restore South Africans' faith in democracy against the rising tide of populist authoritarianism and ethno-nationalism.
"Now, more than ever, we must demonstrate what the people of South Africa can achieve when we work together," Ramaphosa said.
"Time and time again, in moments such as this, South Africans have chosen the path of progress. We have chosen peace, not violence. We have chosen unity, not division. We have chosen hope, and never succumbed to fear."
Ramaphosa said, looking in the direction of the opposition benches, South African democracy remained firmed "even as democracy comes under threat across the globe, with the rise of authoritarianism and ethnic nationalism in new forms".
It is no surprise that there will be policy differences in the GNU - it is a 10-party coalition after all. This is particularly pronounced between the two biggest parties, with the DA remaining staunchly opposed to flagship ANC policies like the National Health Insurance and District Development Model.
The DA also remains vehemently opposed to the ANC's attempt to reform basic education through the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill, which Parliament passed before the elections.
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When Ramaphosa announced earlier this month that he had found his pen and would sign this legislation, the DA's immediate response was to threaten its withdrawal from the GNU.
The DA backed down, while keeping a court challenge on the table, as did Ramaphosa, who signed the bill but put the implementation of the two most controversial clauses on hold pending further consultation. The upshot is also that Cabinet has implemented a "clearing house" where GNU parties can ventilate their differences.
However, remarks from both Steenhuisen and Ramaphosa are instructive of the glue that binds the GNU.
Speaking at the Cape Town Press Club the day before Ramaphosa signed the bill, Steenhuisen said: "Much depends on our new government of national unity. If it succeeds, South Africa succeeds. If it fails, everything is imperilled - our economy, our security, our Constitution itself."
At the signing ceremony, Ramaphosa told journalists: "Those who may want to pronounce that they will leave the GNU [know] that is wishful thinking. All of us who are participants know that any other alternative is just too ghastly to contemplate. We are tied together in the GNU in advancing the interests of South Africa. Anyone [who leaves] is destroying the hope of South Africans."
- Jan Gerber is a News24 parliamentary journalist
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