Helen Zille, the Federal Council Chair of the Democratic Alliance (DA), recently announced that negotiations between her party and the African National Congress (ANC) have reached an impasse.
The two parties have not been able to agree on the composition of a Gauteng government, despite making some progress in a meeting held on Tuesday.
Zille revealed that the ANC offered the DA a maximum of three out of ten cabinet seats, without clarifying the distribution of the remaining seats.
The ANC conceded that their initial proposal was to allocate three seats to the DA and seven to themselves out of a ten-member cabinet, including the ANC premier.
This allocation, according to Zille, falls short of the requirements outlined in Clause 16 of the statement of intent. The clause stipulates that the government should be broadly
Zille criticized the ANC’s move, stating that it does not meet the requirements of good faith set out in the initial agreement. The allocation also excluded the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), which has been part of the national agreement from the onset.
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The DA expressed that the ANC’s refusal to discuss which other parties they intended to include was a smokescreen to monopolize the cabinet seats. The ANC later offered to reduce their seats to six, retain the DA at three, and give one seat to the IFP or Patriotic Alliance (PA).
Despite welcoming the IFP’s inclusion, Zille pointed out that this still fell short of Clause 16’s requirements.
Despite the deadlock, Zille mentioned that the DA is prepared to negotiate further when the ANC shows genuine commitment to treating the DA as an equal partner.
She emphasized the need for mutual respect and good faith to reach an agreement that would genuinely serve the voters of Gauteng. Until an agreement is reached, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s efforts to form a government remain on hold, as previous attempts have been blocked by the ANC’s national leadership.
As the situation stands, the people of Gauteng will have to wait longer for the formation of their provincial government. The ongoing negotiations underscore the complexities and challenges inherent in power-sharing agreements, reflecting the broader political landscape of South Africa.
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