The dawn of a new era in South Africa: a “government of national unity” • FRANCE 24 English

The dawn of a new era in South Africa: a “government of national unity” • FRANCE 24 English

next it is the dawn of a new era in South African politics after three decades of dominance the African National Congress has struck a deal to form what they’re calling a government of national Unity it comes after thec failed to win an absolute majority in Parliament for the first time in 30 years the Deal saw lawmakers reelect Cel ramapa for a second term as president for some analysis on this new chapter we can bring in William gede the founder and executive chair of the democracy Works Foundation thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today first just how significant is this National Unity government notably that alliance between thec and their longtime rival the da thank you for having me I mean this an extraordinary moment in sou afric’s modern politics I mean the an has been in power for 30 years it’s really dominates dominated our politics our society um and also the state and you know finally um I mean the an Dr to 40% in the in the general elections but the opposition parties together have been unable to put a government together because in normal circumstances um if the opposition gets 60% and the former governing party gets 40% the opposition puts a government together so in our case um unfortunately um they are for the opposition to put a their own um government together they needed to to bring in some anti-constitutional parties like former president Jacob Zuma with his party and and then the economic freedom fighters of of Julius MMA another former Youth League leader of the ANC and so that was impossible to put together government um with these two parties um so and and therefore the Democratic Alliance and the incarta Freedom Party and and other opposition parties joined thec um in a government of of national unity and a government of national Unity is different from a an ordinary coalition government it is just that um a GNU as we call it um is power set at on an equal basis um with DC and to what extent do all of these parties actually see eye to eye for example thec is the historic party of Nelson Mandela the da meanwhile has a reputation for defending the interests of white minorities in South Africa um you know just the first thing I mean there really a couple of there’s a couple of challenges I mean you know the da and the incarta Freedom Party and freedom from plus are part of the an 11 party multi-party Charters s Africa’s first pre-electoral or pre-election Coalition of opposition parties so that as a as a collective they Collective so that’s the first challenge um although I mean it focus on a DA in the ifp that that is form the Coalition the governing the Coalition with thec they’re actually part of a bigger opposition party um Coalition and and and I think the thing that will hold them together is um focusing on the Constitution you know the ultimate law I mean there are many parties in South Africa that oppose the constitution um so I think that’s the one thing that’s going to hold it together secondly would be in terms of um The Challenge going to be if the government of national Unity is too big if there are too many political parties in it it’s going to be very unwieldy I mean for now it seems to be a manageable size of parties um in there um but I think the important thing is really is how they going to do this Co governing business how they going to do it and will the ANC be able to compromise because it has been used to be in charge of government and now it will have to be Shing government at every level you know whether it’s foreign policy economic policy or working with business because the da and the ifb want to work with business where the ANC was anti- business did want to work with business so these are some of the challenges they’re going to have to deal with and just finally briefly how would you describe the mood in South Africa you know after this announcement how are people seeing seeing this Unity government I think it’s a very helpful helpful um um mood I mean you know people have been calling um for the agency to become more accountable and more responsible as as a government and to listen to people but the a has been very complacent I mean 30 years in power and in the past many of the agcy voters just voted for it based on the past Bas of his past record so it me the a had no incentive to be responsible or to be accountable or to deliver Services because people continue to vote for them so why would they um deliver Services um because you know they they they like former president Jacob Zuma said that the anent would be there until Jesus comes I mean he was like that and I think people are now much more hopeful much more excited it’s we it’s a hopeful mood um in the country it’s I think it’s the best scenario and many people understand that this is the best scenario for South Africa it brings the main political parties into one government to to govern inclusively for all South Africans it could have been worse it could have been the ANC in a coalition for example with anti-constitutional parties like the eff and former president Jacob Zuma’s K I mean that would have been a total disaster and that would have tanked South Africa’s economy I think people are much more hopeful um for this government of national Unity because it does bring business Civil Society also into the loop because he’s also a pro business pro civil society and Pro professionals and uh um um that they will bring uh as as part of the governing package I’m glad people are hopeful and hopefully this new government will deliver William gedi thank you again so much for your analysis that’s William GED the founder and executive chair uh for the Democracy Works Foundation

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected for a second term after his humbled ANC cobbled together an unprecedented coalition government. For more information, FRANCE 24’s Alison Sargent interviews Democracy Works foundation founder William Gumede.
#SouthAfrica #CyrilRamaphosa #coalition

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