South Africa’s 10-party ruling coalition is expected to hold together despite internal differences, as members see no viable alternative, according to Helen Zille, chairwoman of the Democratic Alliance. The coalition aims to prioritize economic growth and reduce the 33.5% unemployment rate. Zille emphasized the importance of growth-friendly policies to combat rising populism and highlighted the positive impact of DA ministers on government services and the country’s economy.
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By Paul Vecchiatto and Mike Cohen
South Africa’s 10-party ruling coalition is likely to hold together despite its members’ differences, because they see no other viable alternative to run the country, a key power broker in the alliance said.
“When everyone knows that the alternative is worse than the situation that you’re in, however bad it’s going to get, you stick with what you’ve got, and that’s why I think it will last,” Helen Zille, the chairwoman of the Democratic Alliance, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Cape Town offices on Thursday. “It’s not going to be smooth sailing all the way, nor should it be. I hope we don’t have a bad marriage, but a good marriage also has some clear differences from time to time.”
The business-friendly DA finished second in May 29 elections to the African National Congress, which lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since it took power three decades ago. It agreed to join President Cyril Ramaphosa’s so-called government of national unity to ensure the left-leaning Economic Freedom Fighters and former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe party, or MKP, were sidelined, and was allocated six ministerial posts in the 34-member cabinet.
The new administration has agreed to make economic growth its top priority as it seeks to reduce a 33.5% unemployment rate. Output has been hamstrung by electricity shortages, logistics snarl-ups and red tape, with gross domestic product expanding by an average of less than 1% a year over the past decade.
“If things get worse and worse economically, then the populism will get stronger and stronger,” Zille said. “It is absolutely critical that we remove barriers to growth, that we have growth-friendly policies and that we make a dent in this disastrous unemployment statistic.”
South Africa’s currency and stocks have responded positively to the new government’s formation and performance so far, with the rand gaining 1.9% against the dollar since the elections and the FTSE/JSE All-Share index rising almost 6% as at 11 a.m. local time.
While the DA “sold itself short” when agreeing to the makeup of the cabinet, it had to act in the country’s best interest because there would have been mass capital flight and a selloff of the rand had the ANC entered into a “doomsday coalition” with the EFF and MKP, said Zille, a former journalist who led the DA for eight years and now oversees the day-to-day running of her party.
The DA members of cabinet include its incumbent leader John Steenhuisen, who serves as agriculture minister, and Siviwe Gwarube, its former chief whip in parliament, who was named basic education minister.
While international experience showed that electoral support for smaller parties that joined unity governments tended to diminish, Zille said the DA had to ensure it was the exception to the norm.
“We have to be absolutely sure that we can distinguish ourselves from what other parties are offering, without being disruptive of the government of national unity,” she said. “It depends on us being firm in opposition where we need to be in opposition, and being highly cooperative where we need to be to make progress. And it depends on us convincing our voters that we are going to have to make some compromises, but that we also get to get some gains.”
DA ministers are already having a positive impact on improving government services, with the home affairs department making significant headway in addressing backlogs in the issuing of visas and other documentation, Zille added.
Read also:
- Coalition government won’t fix past failures: SA private sector to play a bigger role in service delivery
- SACP opposes ANC coalition with DA and MKP, favours minority government
- Woode-Smith: Why SA needs a pro-free market coalition
© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.
