Conflict advisor and former politician Roelf Meyer says there are some experiences and lessons that can be learned from South Africa's 1994 Government of National Unity.
The ANC announced on Thursday it would call on other parties to form a government of national unity, after failing to secure a majority in the recent general election.
Meyer says political parties need to work together in the best interest of the country.
“We've never been in this situation before, because you can't really compare what's happening now to the situation in 1994 when we had a government of national unity, when the challenge was to prepare a government that could transition from political parties to democracy. There was agreement on that. There was plenty of time to really negotiate the content of that structure,” Meyer said.
Meyer believes South Africa should have continued with the Government of National Unity since its spontaneous formation in 1994.
“Personally, I think we should have continued and gone ahead with that arrangement voluntarily after five years. I think that was a strong demand of South Africans at the time. So I think the shortcomings that were suggested as part of the decision to withdraw were not sufficient or strong enough to withdraw. The positive lesson that came from it is that the arrangement with the ANC, the IFP, actually worked very well. I remember as Minister of Constitutional Development I was able to speak to President Mandela on many occasions and ask for his guidance. The lesson we can learn is that it is possible to form a government of national unity. Of course, there are certain things that we have to agree on. We have to respect that there are diverse opinions and we have to make room for that, but the national interest must take precedence,” Meyer said.
GNU | Supreme Court Chief Justice Asked to Intervene in Formation of National Unity Government:
At least six political parties have written to Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, urging him to appoint a retired judge to facilitate establishment negotiations.
of the Government of National Unity.
The UDM, ACDP, ATM, PAC, UAT and BOSA argue that no party could gather enough votes to form a government on its own, and that the 18 parties with at least one seat in the National Assembly should be given the power to decide the composition of the government.
After a special NEC meeting on Thursday, the ANC opted for the GNU and has since been in talks with various political parties excluding the above.
Meanwhile, political analyst Bheki Mngomezulu says the GNU aims to include as many parties as possible so the party that gets the majority votes does not have to talk to everyone.
“Then asking the Chief Justice to call in a judge to oversee these consultations, to me, is completely pointless, because the Constitution says that if there is no clear winner, the parties with seats in Parliament must find one another. The Constitution doesn't say that you have to go to the court and ask for intervention when you haven't even tried. But they have a point! As long as you have seats in Parliament, you have the right to be considered. It's not an obligation, by the way. The party with the majority of seats can decide to include or exclude you without violating the law.”
Political analyst Levi Ndu said the ANC appeared undecided about which party to form a coalition with after it announced it would seek to form a national unity government with opposition groups.
Discussions to form the seventh government based on this proposal are continuing this weekend.
The DA is one of the parties that has voiced support for the proposal, despite ideological differences between the DA and the ANC.
Ndu said political parties should set aside their differences and go ahead with the proposal.
GNU | Pros and cons of GNU: