The government of national unity (GNU) will not collapse because of malevolent external forces. It will be killed by its leaders. They are self-sabotaging and killing their own baby as we speak. If they do not stop their public shredding of each other, the demise of the GNU is a matter of when, not if.
The new cabinet and parliament have barely begun their terms and partners in the GNU are already throwing mud at each other.
This week we saw yet another unseemly squabble between two of the most loquacious leaders of the GNU. ANC national chair Gwede Mantashe, speaking to TimesLIVE, warned DA federal council leader Helen Zille against acting like a “parallel president” and said her behaviour is the biggest threat to the survival of the GNU.
“The only worry, when I open social media, is when we have a parallel president called Helen Zille outside, who wants DA ministers to account to her. She is going to collapse it if she continues, because we are not going to have a parallel government run by Helen Zille.
“There is one president here and that president is Cyril Ramaphosa. And that’s it. Ministers in government understand that. External interference must be corrected,” said Mantashe.
The accusation of a “parallel government” is not new. Ramaphosa wrote to DA leader John Steenhuisen on June 25 warning that the “DA seemed to want to set up a parallel government that would operate outside the framework and parameters of the constitution”.
Did Mantashe need to dredge it up again, or is he trying to make himself relevant? Why not confront Zille in person? Why was Zille rushing off to the media to discuss current or potential GNU problems? Shouldn’t they be resolved with her partners in the GNU?
Leaders ... must learn to meet each other face to face. They must build trust. They must look each other in the eye
This squabble is unnecessary and harmful. It causes uncertainty. It invites questions about the stability of the union. It heightens risk. It cools enthusiasm for our offering as a country. The hoary old South African question that should no longer be part of our lexicon (“Will the peace hold?”) rears its ugly head — again.
It shouldn’t be this way. The days of uncertainty should be in our past. Our leaders’ key task now should be to go all out to reassure domestic and international investors about the solidity of the unity government and its ability to implement its plans.
No-one wins if this GNU collapses. If this arrangement fails, the ANC will find itself in the clutches of the ethically challenged MK Party, led by the corruption-accused former president, Jacob Zuma. Alongside will be the EFF, ready to dip into the next VBS Mutual Bank so that its leaders can enjoy their lavish lifestyles while poor pensioners lose their life savings.
The second most pivotal player in the GNU, the DA, will find itself shouting from the sidelines as democratic norms and freedoms are swept away. Opposition politicians will be thrown in jail, as happens in countries that Zuma and his MK support.
The stakes are extremely high. That is why I am disappointed that some leaders of this coalition seem unaware of the risks inherent in playing to the gallery and poking the bear of collapsing the GNU. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say this again: leaders must use the humble telephone to speak to each other before rushing to the megaphone. They must learn to meet each other face to face. They must build trust. They must look each other in the eye and thrash out their differences.
The media is a key pillar of our democracy, but political leaders should not be rushing to abuse the media every time there is pressure on the GNU. What they give us is not news anyway but partisan propaganda to make themselves look better than their rivals. Leaders talk to each other. They resolve problems. They shouldn’t rush to the megaphone until it’s time to brief the nation about progress. No agreement ever survived by public point scoring.
This government will collapse if political leaders do not learn to avoid social media and megaphones. They must learn to meet. They are fuelling uncertainty.
Is this perhaps deliberate?
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