GNU rift: ANC under fire for failure to work towards offering DA olive branch
Insiders have told EWN, that the national working committee members remain puzzled as to why an emergency nec meeting which was put on ice last month is yet to sit.
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula during a media briefing at Luthuli House in Johannesburg on 13 March 2025. Picture: Spamandla Dlamini/EWN
JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress (ANC)'s secretary general’s office has come under fire for failing to convene a meeting of its national executive committee (NEC) to discuss soured relations with the Democratic Alliance (DA).
Insiders have told Eyewitness News that the national working committee (NWC) members remain puzzled as to why an emergency NEC meeting, which was put on ice last month, has yet to sit.
A similar uproar by the ANC’s parliamentary caucus happened last week.
Meanwhile, NWC members insist this matter has to be ventilated by the party’s highest decision-making body in between conferences - the NEC.
READ: Despite frequent legal challenges against GNU, DA not intending to leave govt anytime soon
The DA said it’s not in the Government of National Unity (GNU) to please the ANC following the secretary general, Fikile Mbalula, lamenting the blue party for taking the Employment Equity Amendment Act to court.
The Pretoria High Court is scheduled to hear the DA's case on Tuesday, challenging the constitutionality of Section 15(a) of the legislation.
This section gives the minister the power to introduce targets for businesses with more than 50 staff members, on the representation of historically marginalised groups in their companies.
They’ve told Eyewitness News that the ANC has dug in its heels despite growing irritation across some quarters of the organisation with the DA, and its role in the GNU.
Several other parties, including the opposition, have met and discussed the budget impasse, with many now making suggestions on the way forward
Mbalula paused an emergency NEC meeting last month, but is being accused of dragging his feet in picking a new date for the sitting
The two major parties in the GNU have seemingly smoked a peace pipe; however, some view the court action as an attempt by the DA to stoke fires.
Finance Minister Enoch Gondogwana will deliver budget 3.0 on 21 May 2025.
The ANC has been unhappy in its marriage with the DA, pointing out on several occasions that it can’t stand the fact that it prefers to challenge its governance partner legally.
According to the ANC, the DA should address its concerns through the GNU's internal dispute resolution mechanisms, rather than resorting to the courts as it has done with the budget impasse and now the Employment Equity Amendment Act.
When asked whether the DA is worried about how the ANC might respond to yet another court challenge, Helen Zille responded that the ANC is not the DA’s messiah.
"We are not in the Government of National Unity to please the ANC or anyone else. We are in the GNU because we wanted to stand up for South Africans and make a success of South Africa," said Zille.
She added that the DA has no plans to leave the GNU at this time but will continue to oppose laws it believes are counterproductive.
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