The ANC negotiated sufficient votes to pass the budget, negating the DA’s efforts and placing the future of the GNU in question.
A “reconfiguration” of the government of national unity (GNU) may be on the horizon as parties measure the impact of Wednesday’s budget vote.
With the help of several smaller parties, the ANC secured the votes necessary to pass the budget with 194 votes to 182.
The budget vote proceeded despite the EFF, Democratic Alliance (DA) and African Transformation Movement challenging the procedure by which the Standing Committee on Finance accepted the fiscal framework.
ANC secures budget vote
The DA must now decide on whether to stick with the GNU or change the strategy which has seen them finish second best on multiple occasions.
Audio of President Cyril Ramaphosa allegedly saying the DA had backed themselves into a corner by refusing to support the budget was leaked the day before the vote, suggesting the ANC recognised the upper hand they had over the second biggest party in the National Assembly.
Speaking hours before the vote, DA national spokesperson Willie Aucamp said the party would be disappointed if the budget was passed without their support.
“The DA will definitely not be happy if it is passed. We are a member of this GNU, and it would have been fair if our proposals were listened to at least and not just shunted away as was the case here,” Aucamp told The Citizen.
“I am quite sure it cannot be expected from us to be in a government where the budget is a central part of that government, but we haven’t been involved in the creating of that budget or that we do not agree with that budget,” he explained.
Between a GNU rock and a hard place
Prior to the vote, the DA spokesperson was confident that the ANC would fail to gather the numbers needed but said his party would not close the GNU door completely — yet.
“The DA is still open for negotiations that will create economic growth, create job opportunities and that will have cost-cutting measures,” said Aucamp.
“We will definitely review our position. We have not had those meetings yet, but should this budget pass, we will definitely look into whether our stay in the GNU will still make a contribution towards bettering the lives of South Africans.
“And if we cannot do that, we will not have a problem to leave the GNU, but we must first see what happens today, and our Federal Council and Federal Executive will meet on the way forward,” he added.
DA need to restore image
The DA have repeatedly threatened to walk out of the GNU, and the latest victory by the ANC in the GNU tug-of-war has opponents calling their bluff.
Professor Andre Duvenhage questioned whether it was time for the DA to consider returning to the official opposition benches.
“This is without any doubt the crossroads for the DA. It is going to impact in a dramatic way the reconfiguration of the GNU and also the future of opposition politics,” Duvenhage told The Citizen.
Having been outplayed by the ANC on Bela and expropriation, Duvenhage said the DA can only exploit the ‘doomsday coalition’ threat for so long.
“It is going to create a problem for the DA in terms of their image. They will be the loser again against the ANC, and they are losing on literally all fronts at the moment.
“It will be difficult to communicate this to their constituency as a win-win,” he said.
‘Abahambe’ says GNU partner
Sentiment toward the DA within the GNU may be turning, highlighted by Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie telling the party to “abahambe“.
The PA leader’s bullishness could be downstream from a knowledge that the ANC has become master negotiators, as Duvenhage explains.
“Already, what we see is the ANC is changing away from the GNU to an approach of a minority government,” he said.
“A minority government is a government that is organising support before a vote in the national assembly in order to achieve a majority, but it’s on an ad hoc basis, not on a structured coalition basis.
“The best-case scenario for South Africa will be, at the moment, that the budget went through, the DA accept their loss, but they keep on within the GNU, but there can be forces working against that,” Duvenhage concluded.
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