By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The Democratic Alliance (DA), one of the parties in South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU), on Saturday declared a dispute, accusing the government of reducing it to mere “spectators” and failing to consult its coalition partners on bills relating to health and land expropriation.
“We have declared a dispute, and it’s up to the leaders of the parties (in the coalition) to decide how to move forward,” DA leader John Steenhuisen said at a press conference.
“The President needs to accept that his party is now just another minority party, and that the DA are partners in the GNU. The DA will not, under any circumstances, be reduced to being mere spectators,” Steenhuisen said.
The white-majority DA, the second-largest party in the government after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC), said it was not about to walk away but that relations had to be reset following disagreements over issues that have long been sticking points.
In response, the ANC says it is ready to engage. “The ANC will not change its path in transforming South Africa. We will persist with the transformation agenda. But we are ready to engage, including with the DA on these particular matters,” the party’s Secretary General Fikile Mbalula said, also at a news briefing.
Arising from its dwindling popularity, the ANC last year failed to secure adequate parliamentary seats to form the government. It was forced to form an alliance with other parties to share power.
The government has said it is implementing the National Health Insurance Bill, which aims to provide universal coverage through a major overhaul of South Africa’s two-tier system, despite strong opposition from within and outside government.
On Thursday, Ramaphosa signed into law a bill that makes it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest.
The DA said it was unconstitutional, and Steenhuisen said he has written to Ramaphosa to express his party’s objections.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the third-largest party in the coalition government, has also raised objections to the signing of the expropriation bill into law.
