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ANC Deputy President, Paul Mashatile.
African National Congress (ANC) Deputy President Paul Mashatile has reiterated that the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) will meet on Monday on the way forward regarding the Government of National Unity (GNU).
He was speaking after delivering the Solomon Mahlangu lecture in Khayelitsha on the Cape Flats.
Mashatile says all parties in the GNU should work together regarding a statement of intent.
“We want all the parties in the GNU to work in terms of that statement of intent. So we are expecting that parties in the GNU should move together to work together. The DA decided, and Freedom Front Plus say that they are in the GNU, but they won’t vote for the budget. Now I don’t know how they expect us to work. A government that has no budget is no government. It can’t work, so we will decide tomorrow what we do next. We will have to talk to other leaders of the GNU as well; they are not a sideshow; they must feature prominently in how we move forward. We are not going to be engaging in some bilaterals with the DA.”
Meanwhile, DA leader John Steenhuisen stated at a media briefing in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday that his party joined the GNU to actively shape South Africa’s future, not just a mere spectator.
Steenhuisen emphasised the DA’s commitment to collaborating with other GNU partners to boost economic growth and create jobs.
However, political analyst Lumkile Mondi says squabbles within the GNU can endanger the country’s economic growth.
Mondi says parties should pull in the same direction to overcome the country’s challenges.
“The agreement to forming the GNU was first to build an economy that is growing, secondly for inclusivity and building a state that is capable, and therefore I think Steenhuisen and other people engaging on the matter they are justified. But we shouldn’t use that to destroy a government that is pivotal to reach South Africans, to bring hope and unity. Because if we don’t win the biggest fight globally busy squabbling here, we would have no economy, and our problem of an economy that’s not growing will deepen, and we will be losers if we were to dismantle the existing Government of National Unity.”
