ANC’s proposed GNU comes from a place of difficulty: SAFTU

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The labour federation SAFTU says the African National Congress (ANC)-proposed Government of National Unity (GNU) comes from a place of difficulty.

Consultative talks are under way to set up the seventh administration under the proposal.

This follows the ANC’s announcement that it would seek to form the government of national unity with a group of opposition parties.

SAFTU’s General Secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi says, “Once you say government of national unity, then it’s unavoidable that all parties will have to form parties to that government. How? That’s a matter that you can negotiate in detail. The government of national unity presupposes that there is a crisis that requires the involvement of everybody to foster unity and cohesion in the country as a whole. Once you speak about the government of national unity, you cannot exclude anyone.”

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Meanwhile, conflict advisor and former politician, Roelf Meyer, says there are certain experiences and lessons to be learned from South Africa’s 1994 GNU.

Meyer says political parties need to work together in the best interest of the country.

“We haven’t been in this kind of position before, because we can’t compare really what is now happening with what we established in 1994 with the Government of National Unity. It was then a matter of providing for a government that could see after the transition from a party to democracy. There was an agreement about that. We had ample time to actually negotiate the content of that structure,” says Meyer.

Meyer believes South Africa should have continued with the Government of National Unit after the 1994 formation on a voluntary basis.

“Personally, I would’ve thought that we should’ve continued and proceeded with that arrangement after five years on a voluntary basis until (I) think that was very much the exactions of South Africans at that time. So, the shortcomings that were hinted as a part of the decision to withdraw, in my view, was not sufficient and strong enough to pull out. The positive lesson we have had from that was that we had an arrangement with the ANC, the IFP that actually worked quite well. I recall it was possible for me as the Minister of Constitutional Development to engage with President Mandela on more than one occasion and seek his guidance. I think the lesson we can learn is that it is possible to form a Government of National Unity. Of course, there are certain things we need to agree on. There are diverse opinions and one must respect that you must make space for that, but the national interest must prevail,” says Meyer.

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