GNU parties report improved consultation ahead of Ramaphosa's SONA

With the nation a few hours from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address, smaller parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU) say they have been properly consulted—unlike last year.

This is the second State of the Nation (SONA) Ramaphosa has delivered since the formation of the ten-party national coalition.

While the GNU has remained intact, there have been complaints from some parties that the African National Congress (ANC) was sometimes acting in silos.

When President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his State of the Nation Address last year, many parties in the GNU—aside from the ANC—were not consulted on the contents of his speech.

This showed up from their reactions to the SONA speech and later during the budget impasse which almost broke the GNU.

Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi says many lessons have been learned from last year, citing the recent GNU leaders' retreat as one example.

“That was important because we have a 3-year budget cycle and the speech itself needs to be the outcome of a longer process, and I know people want to know, ‘Have you been consulted in the last few days?’ and of course we have been. But for me, if I was being consulted for the first time now, I wouldn’t place any value on that consultation.”

This sentiment was also shared by the IFP’s parliamentary chief whip, Nhlanhla Hadebe.

“The level of consultation and co-operation has improved a great deal since last year. You can attest to the fact that there hasn’t been any hiccups after the budget [impasse] we experienced last year.”

Later this month, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is expected to deliver this year’s budget speech.

Some political parties within the GNU say there won't be a repeat of last year when—for the first time ever—the tabling of the budget speech had to be postponed twice due to infighting within the GNU.