Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen has clarified the party’s stance on the Government of National Unity (GNU), emphasizing that the DA will not walk out of government, despite differences over policies like the BELA Bill. While the DA has vowed to fight policies it opposes, such as potential changes to education and healthcare, Steenhuisen stressed that only severe constitutional or economic damage would prompt the DA to leave. Collaborative solutions remain the focus in navigating contentious issues.
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By John Matisonn
When the DA says it will consider all options if President Cyril Ramaphosa signs the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (BELA) into law on Friday, those options do NOT include walking out of government. ___STEADY_PAYWALL___
Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen spelt out his party’s approach to the GNU for the first time in a prepared speech to the Cape Town Press Club on Thursday.
He made it clear: The GNU is not going anywhere.
Steenhuisen gave an impassioned defence of the DA’s commitment to the Government of National Unity on the grounds that if they really walked out, they would open the door to the Mkhonto weSize and Economic Freedom Fighters parties.
The MKP list of MPs “reads like an appendix to the Zondo commission” that investigated State Capture under former President Jacob Zuma, the DA leader said.
The DA would not let them into government over one or more policy disagreements. He said this was consistent with what he said before the election that “if the RET faction of the ANC, the EFF, the MKP and their small party proxies find a way to come together, South Africa will face an existential crisis.
“If this Doomsday scenario comes to pass,” he said in March, “the 2024 election could be South Africa’s last free and fair election.”
So what does the DA mean when they say they will consider “all options” if the president signs the BELA Bill, or takes another decision fundamentally opposed to DA policy?
Drawing from a long discussion with Steenhuisen at the Kelvin Grove Club in Cape Town as well as his speech, the answer is that the DA will first fight its corner vigorously to block policy it does not like, and if it loses in cabinet it will use the courts.
“First, we seek common ground. Next we engage in constructive conflict seeking a compromise.”
The only conditions in which it would walk away would be if “severe and lasting damage is being done to the economy or the constitution.
“If the ANC insists on taking South Africa down the path to economic ruin, it would be the DA’s patriotic duty to leave the government…
“Similarly, if the ANC sought to compromise the constitution, undermine the independence of key institutions like the Reserve Bank or do away with property rights, we will have no part in it.”
Steenhuisen clearly thinks we are a long way from that.
On Wednesday he met the president to press him to withdraw the BELA Bill, but that night they both attended the first dinner of GNU leaders to discuss how it’s working and a possible conflict resolution mechanism for the future. The atmosphere was friendly and differences over the legislation were not discussed.
The DA leader has the same approach to the government’s national health insurance (NHI) plans. Delivering healthcare to all is the goal, and the party will seek collaborative solutions to aspects of the NHI they believe will do lasting damage.
“If we can’t, we will pursue the interests of South Africans through every other legal means at our disposal.”
The DA leader, now also Minister of Agriculture, dismissed concerns that his colleague, the DA Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, was more sympathetic to the BELA Bill than the party. She wrote a three page letter to the president listing her concerns about the bill.
The DA’s main objections to the BELA Bill are that it could force schools to change their language policies, which some believe would be use to undermine Afrikaans instruction, and reducing the power of school governing bodies compared to officials in the health department.
Gwarube’s public statements said that if the bill becomes law, she will implement it as a member of the executive, a position Steenhuisen supported.
Steenhuisen also confirmed that he had asked his newly appointed chief of staff, Roman Cabanac, to step down. Cabanac received negative publicity over his racial comments and for accepting a free trip to Russia from the nuclear company, Rosatom, before supporting Russian nuclear energy in South Africa.
Read also:
- DA tables Western Cape Provincial Powers Bill to address national government failures – John Steenhuisen
- DA leader John Steenhuisen on devolution; “coalition school”; Mbeki; ANC Conference; and why 2024 is SA’s Last Chance Saloon.
- Coalition government depends on integrity – John Steenhuisen
