UDM calls out Ramaphosa about workings of GNU
On Wednesday, the party’s chief whip, Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, remarked that without a binding coalition agreement, the GNU would remain on shaky ground.
President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the budget vote address for the Presidency in the Good Hope Chamber of Parliament on 16 July 2025. Picture: GCIS
CAPE TOWN - A Government of National Unity (GNU) partner, the United Democratic Movement (UDM), had stern words for the president during the debate on his budget vote about the workings of his coalition government.
On Wednesday, the party’s chief whip, Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, remarked that without a binding coalition agreement, the GNU would remain on shaky ground.
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Meanwhile, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said the Democratic Alliance (DA) was playing to the public gallery by complaining about the ineffectiveness of the GNU’s dispute resolution mechanism, known as the clearing house.
Kwankwa said the GNU lacks both stability and coherence.
He said, besides no coalition agreement, there was no shared programme of action, no mechanism to consult, resolve disputes, and govern together.
“Instead, what we see is an arrangement that resembles a political polygamy, where the ANC [African National Congress] entered into multiple, unequal agreements with different political parties without a binding, central framework to hold this coalition together.”
But Ntshavheni said the clearing house mechanism, led by the deputy president, could sort out the problems, and took a jab at the DA for claiming the contrary.
“This makes the ultimatums to the president and playing to the gallery so unnecessary by a party that is a signatory to the statement of intent.”
In his budget vote address to the house, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the GNU had inspired new hope in the country that progress can be made in addressing the most urgent challenges.