By Zukile Majova
- The DA and other parties accuse President Cyril Ramaphosa of not consulting them on key decisions.
- An urgent meeting between the president and DA leader John Steenhuisen to set to end tensions in the GNU.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is due to meet DA leader John Steenhuisen to end tensions between the parties to the Government of National Unity (GNU).
The latest wrinkle comes after Ramaphosa signed the Expropriation Bill into law, paving the way for the state to buy some underused privately owned land.
The law also empowers the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure to take over abandoned plots of land without compensation.
The meeting between Ramaphosa and Steenhuisen comes as the Cabinet Lekgotla begins this week to formulate a service delivery plan for the GNU.
“After writing to the president, requesting a meeting with him before the Cabinet Lekgotla, I am pleased to inform you that the president has heeded my call. This is the first step in improving stability and restoring trust amongst coalition partners within the GNU,” said Steenhuisen.
The DA officially declared a state of conflict by invoking Clause 19 of the Statement of Intent which formed the foundation of the GNU.
The clause is a conflict resolution guideline which says parties to the GNU must seek to achieve sufficient consensus when there are conflicting views about government programmes.
Such consensus is achieved when GNU partners, representing 60% of the seats in Parliament, agree on an issue. The ANC cannot achieve sufficient consensus without the DA.
“We will not be taken for granted or reduced to spectators. The day we cannot influence economic growth and job creation is the day our role in the GNU will be questioned,” said Steenhuisen.
ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula said the Expropriation Act was not meant to threaten property rights of citizens.
He said the Act “will be utilised to ensure security of tenure, accelerate land claims along with the now full-time Land Claims Court and speed up land redistribution for agriculture and housing”.
Pictured above: DA Leader John Steenhuisen to meet President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Source: @Our_DA
