The Gauteng legislature has become a battleground amid talks between parties within the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU), as Premier Panyaza Lesufi gears up to appoint his MEC caucus.
While ActionSA maintained that it would sit on the opposition benches, parties including RISE Mzansi, VF Plus, African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and the Patriotic Alliance had joined the GPU, Lesufi revealed.
“We have concluded discussions with VF Plus, RISE Mzansi, IFP, the ACDP, DA and PA. We have not won the elections, but in reality we are the largest supported party in Gauteng, and we cannot be arrogant and difficult, because voters showed us we must work together,” said Lesufi on Sunday, during a TV interview.
However, the Christian-centred ACDP deputy president, Wayne Thring, said his party was not joining the GNU.
According to Thring, the ACDP aimed to challenge the recently passed Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) and National Health Insurance (NHI) Bills. It may also take the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to court over alleged vote rigging.
“The ACDP has had a number of meetings with the former ruling party. When the results were announced, we decided to involve ourselves in explanatory discussions with the ANC. After those discussions with the ANC, we decided not to be part of the Government of National Unity. The reason is, the ACDP wants to review a number of bills that have been passed, such as the Bela Bill. We are still looking to take the results to the election board, in order to see if we have sufficient evidence to put forward against the IEC,” said Thring.
The South African Rainbow Alliance (Sara), led by former City of Johannesburg speaker, Colleen Makhubele, is another party that is strongly opposed to the Bela Bill.
The leader of the ACDP, Kenneth Meshoe, told the SABC that the government could not pass NHI Bill that ensured free access to healthcare when the country’s economy was stretched. “We have issues with the NHI Bill, because the government cannot meet the needs of the people right now with NHI, especially since doctors are unemployed.
“Where will they (government) find money to ensure everything is for free? We have to ensure SA’s economy improves so that health workers get jobs. We are in opposition to the GNU to ensure the government keeps its promises. We are excited to see a government where the ANC is not the majority.”
Meshoe accused the leader of the DA, John Steenhuisen, of back-stabbing the Moonshot Pact by holding secret meetings with the ANC before President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the new form of government.
The Moonshot Pact was a DA-led political alliance between the IFP, ActionSA, VF Plus and ACDP to topple the ANC as government.
Meshoe fingered the DA for betrayal during an ACDP Facebook livestream on Wednesday night, saying: “John Steenhuisen was talking with the ANC behind our backs, while he said the DA would never work with the ANC. He left the Multiparty Charter (Moonshot Pact).”
The Star
hope.hlophe@inl.co.za