DA leader Steenhuisen to meet Ramaphosa tonight to iron out GNU tensions

DA leader John Steenhuisen will meet President Cyril Ramaphosa tonight, 28 January, to iron out differences that took the government of national unity to peak unhappiness at the weekend.

Ahead of the meeting, Steenhuisen repeatedly said the DA was committed to staying in the power-sharing government. 

“We remain committed to the GNU. We stand squarely behind the GNU as a way to grow the economy. There is renewed excitement about SA and GNU has already shown green shoots in Davos (the World Economic Forum) and elsewhere,” he said at a briefing following the party’s weekend Federal Council meeting.

The message is different to a weekend briefing where the DA, scalded by the signing of the Expropriation Act last week, threatened to withhold support for the Budget in February and said it had declared a dispute in terms of the founding agreement of the 10-party power-sharing agreement.

Steenhuisen also revealed that he had only read on social media about Ramaphosa signing off on the land expropriation law when he touched down from Davos last week, even though the two had been in the same delegation.

“We are not the only party feeling excluded [owing to the] lack of consultation within the GNU,” Steenhuisen said, adding that three parties had put out statements complaining about being blindsided.

The DA leader said he believed the GNU would last and that the alternative was “too ghastly to contemplate. We will continue to work in the GNU but we will not be spectators.”

While a negotiated deal appears to be imminent on the expropriation law, the National Health Insurance (NHI) is a more pressing touch-point. The medium-term development plan (the GNU’s governing blueprint) is said to include substantial budget allocations for the plan which is the subject of a number of court cases and is slated to be fundable only by substantial tax hikes over many years. 

“A real risk is the implementation of the NHI. We would not be part of a government that destroys the economy. NHI will destroy private healthcare,” Steenhuisen said. He added that ending medical tax credits was a red line. 

Medical aid members benefit from tax credits, which encourage membership.

A substantial part of the upcoming Cabinet lekgotla on 29 and 30 January will likely be taken up by debates on the NHI. In Davos at the World Economic Forum, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said he faced a “war” against the NHI as he set the scene for robust talks at the lekgotla.

“The GNU is SA’s most precious asset and that’s why all parties need to be responsible stewards,” Steenhuisen said. 

He characterised responsible stewardship as consultation and said the party wanted better and more robust conflict resolution mechanisms. The existing mechanism, the so-called clearing house chaired by Deputy President Paul Mashatile, does not even have terms of reference to guide its work.

Asked what the red lines are that would see it walk out of the GNU, Steenhuisen repeatedly said “When the Constitution is trashed and the economy has crashed”, which he said would be the NHI.

Read more: Pressure grows for NHI compromise ahead of Cabinet lekgotla

He added that no party in the GNU could get everything it wanted and that the party would have to “re-trim its sails”. The DA’s threat to withhold support for passing the Budget in February is no longer on the table but that is contingent on the Cabinet lekgotla finding a way around the NHI tough talk.

Steenhuisen said mooted allocations for the NHI would be budget-blowing.  The Medium Term Expenditure Framework has made small allocations to the NHI mostly to refurbish and improve public health facilities. DM