- Wednesday will be a crucial day to finalise an agreement to form a government, as the ANC failed to win a majority of seats.
- The parties will continue to meet over the next few days, at which point a “letter of intent” is expected to be signed.
- But obstacles remain as the ANC has encountered resistance to the deal from organisations including the DA.
With just 48 hours to go until the crucial first meeting of parliament, there was a cautious “all good” tone to talks on Tuesday to form a Government of National Unity (GNU).
News24 could reveal that by Tuesday afternoon, the talks had reached a key milestone, with the majority of parties agreeing to “unite” under the GNU initiative announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa after an ANC leadership meeting last week.
The agreement concerns cooperation in both cabinet and parliament.
This followed lengthy and tense formal talks that began last Thursday to form a government following the ANC's crushing election victory of 40 percent, its worst showing nationwide since 1994.
Parties that may be excluded include ActionSA, Al Jamaa and the EFF.
An agreement is imminent, but hurdles remain to be overcome before it can be concluded.
On Tuesday afternoon, the ANC began meetings with its organisations and allies Cosatu and the South African Communist Party to secure buy-in for the agreement.
This will likely culminate in a special meeting of party leaders on Thursday.
Alliance and ANC organisations remain resistant to cooperation with the DA.
Parliament will convene on Friday to elect a speaker, deputy speaker and president.
It was crucial to get buy-in before Parliament meets on Friday, which is why lengthy consultations were held.
A source close to the negotiations told News24 that the signing of the “letter of intent” marks another step towards sealing the deal. Only once this document is signed in the coming days will the deal be officially sealed.
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It's set to be a tense day as the parties work their way towards this initial endpoint.
News24 understands that cabinet and parliamentary posts are yet to be confirmed.
The officials said the composition of the Cabinet is the prerogative of the president and further consultations on these positions would only take place once a president is elected.
The posts of chairman and vice-chairman are also due to be elected on Friday, but are yet to be finalised and will be subject to further discussion over the next two days.
The DA indicated its intention to continue talks after a meeting of its top leadership body, the Federal Council, on Tuesday and tasked its negotiating team with joining the effort.
Interestingly, further talks with former president Jacob Zuma's MK party are also taking place and are expected to continue.
A source from a major party told News24 that provincial leaders from the ANC and DA had met in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal but no party had won a majority in either province and the talks would “follow” what was agreed nationally.
With the ANC losing its majority in both provinces, the two are deeply divided over support for different parties.
“These are separate negotiations but at some stage they will converge. At this stage commitments will only be implemented with the consent of the people,” the Gauteng leader told News24 on Tuesday.
According to sources, talks in KwaZulu-Natal are expected to be finalised on Wednesday with an agreement between the ANC, DA, IFP and NFP.
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News24 understands the agreement hinges in part on whether the IFP and NFP will smoke the peace pipe in local government areas where the two parties have been fighting.
According to one source, the NFP has put forward the condition for KwaZulu-Natal that outstanding issues between the two parties be resolved at local government level.
The IFP and NFP are at odds over local political issues, and their disputes have often led to bloody political violence.
Another source said the NFP was threatening to assume the role of kingmaker in KwaZulu-Natal due to its role in the GNU government, despite only having one seat in the province and no seats nationally.
With the clock ticking, Lawson Naidoo, executive director of the Council for the Promotion of the South African Constitution, said despite parties racing against time, there was little risk of a “constitutional crisis” if parliament does not elect a president on Friday.
“The system is specifically designed to produce results,” he added.
This is done by eliminating the candidate who received the fewest votes.
If two candidates ultimately receive an equal number of votes, the Chief Justice can adjourn the session for seven days and reconvene to hold a vote.
This allows the parties more time to negotiate.
The same process will be applied in elections to state assemblies, chief ministers, speaker and deputy speaker posts.
Another risk to Friday's parliament meeting is a legal challenge by the MK party, which is seeking to block the meeting from taking place.
But Mr Naidoo said he believed the claims made by the MK Party in its paper were “thinly substantiated and false” and likely to be rejected.
