New GNU won’t be easy- trust, leadership and maturity needed, say Trevor Manuel and Roelf Meyer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqZsOkd4_CI

‘We are sitting in a position where there is no alternative and the only way forward is to have a coalition and that requires trust, commitment, leadership and political maturity. The document that surfaced over the weekend on the government of national unity is good, but the key issue is whether the parties can convene to build trust going forward.”

This is according to Trevor Manuel, a minister in the first government of national unity in 1994, who was speaking during a webinar hosted by Daily Maverick. Roelf Meyer, another minister in the first GNU, Daily Maverick associate editor Ferial Haffajee and senior journalist Rebecca Davis joined him to discuss how we can make the GNU work in 2024.

For Meyer, the GNU document is much better than what South Africans might have expected, considering it was produced in a short time.

“Fourteen days is usually short for these kinds of power-sharing agreements, considering there were no prior agreements. To me, it shows the dedication to make it happen, and already the implementation at a provincial level gives me hope and is quite significant.”

Ahead of the presidential inauguration on Wednesday, a power-sharing deal was struck last Friday between five parties – ANC, DA, IFP, Good and the Patriotic Alliance – which represent 273 seats (68%) in the National Assembly.

Reflecting on the Parliament sitting, Davis said: “We were hearing as late as Thursday night that there might be no deal. The DA was saying if they don’t get certain things in place they are out. So I think things were generally intense, [with] an atmosphere of charged excitement and uncertainty on Friday morning as things were taking off.”

When the agreement was reached the DA resigned as the official opposition party. Read DA lead negotiator Helen Zille’s reflections on the hours leading up to the deal on News24.

On the DA’s resignation as the official opposition, Davis said: “I think it’s a fascinating time for South Africans. Just that statement by DA leader John Steenhuisen was mind blowing and a reconfiguration of South African politics. It’s such a steep change for what it means going forward for the entire politics of the country. Excited to see how all of this will play out.”

On lessons from the 1994 GNU, Meyer said: “Believe it or not, we never started as friends. In a build-up to the transition there was a lot of animosity between the DA, ANC and other parties, understandably so. Looking back it shows what can be done if there is a willingness to [develop] relations. 

“I remember in 1994 after the swearing-in of the new Cabinet we had a lekgotla which was essential to foster the bonds. The same fears, concerns and risks, I think, existed leading up to the deal and beyond, but if you open up your mind with the person across the table, things start to fall into place. There are also personalities that you need at these tables to keep things calm and steer them in the right direction. That was the role that Jakes Gerwel played once the GNU came into being. He was the backstage person who played the intermediary. Right now, as this new Cabinet is going to be formed by next week or whenever, there needs to be a person or people playing that role to forge these bonds as everyone comes from different worlds.”

(A lekgotla is a meeting based on the traditional concept of elders gathering to ponder and question.)

As the appointment of Cabinet members looms, Manuel said the GNU parties should be careful about who they consider for what positions, in order to build trust and ensure competent governance.

Read more in Daily Maverick: All eyes on Ramaphosa to see who gets which Cabinet positions

“There is a strategic plan of every department that remains in place and new ministers have to be exceedingly familiar with those issues so that they can carry this forward so that the basic minimum programme can be implemented… it’s not the position of the individual, it’s about the ability to… lead the team of established and professional public servants. It’s also about a minister never forgetting that she or he remains a member of Parliament and therefore should be directly accountable to the constituencies where they will serve and have a constituency office. It’s about ministers understanding that they have got to do all of these things – it’s not the fancy stuff. The basis is to put people first,” he said.

Meyer said he believes South Africa is in a mature place outside politics and has proved itself as a working democracy.

“In 1994 we came together, it was the first democratic government. There were a lot of things that on all sides people were not exposed to for the first time. Together was also new in that sense [that] although we had been negotiating for a long time we were not governing together, and now suddenly we had to do it. These parties who are now sitting together in this have been exposed to each other for a long period over the last 10, 20 to 30 years, some of them for all that time and some of them for less.”

Meyer has urged citizens and anyone interested in the GNU to review its declaration of intent. He added that the GNU won’t be plain sailing, and that people must be prepared for difficulties. He noted that similar challenges arose that resulted in FW de Klerk walking out of the GNU. DM