Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has announced the signing of an agreement for a Government of National Unity (GNU) with the African National Congress (ANC) and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
The announcement was made on the sidelines of the first sitting of the National Assembly, marking a significant day for South Africa.
Steenhuisen highlighted that the GNU’s presidential candidate will be from the largest party within the coalition, which is the ANC.
In a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Steenhuisen said, “After two weeks of negotiations that only concluded after the sitting started, the DA reached an agreement on a statement of intent for GNU, following signing by leaders of the DA, IFP, and ANC. The DA will enter national and provincial government in the provinces of Gauteng (GP) and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).”
Steenhuisen acknowledged the rapid negotiation process, noting, “Even in countries with a long tradition of multi-party government, it usually takes much longer to negotiate a comprehensive agreement. We have thus decided to tackle the negotiations in phases. Phase one is now complete and has culminated in the adoption of the statement of intent, which enables the GNU to elect presiding officers in Parliament, as well as a President.”
He then said that the GNU’s presidential candidate, President Cyril Ramaphosa, will be elected today, and he will, following his election, appoint his new Cabinet from among the members of the GNU, in consultation with the leaders of its constituent parties.
Steenhuisen described the agreement as realistic about the need for mechanisms to handle disagreements within a multiparty government, adopting the threshold of “sufficient consensus” from the CODESA negotiations.
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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