President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC) will discuss the steps the party should take moving forward regarding the Government of National Unity (GNU).
“The National Executive Committee is the one that is going to discuss precisely what the ANC now needs to do as we deal with these challenges where a number of parties, particularly also parties that are part of the GNU at the national level, have voted against the budget,” Ramaphosa said.
“The National Executive Committee will discuss the matter after the National Working Committee (NWC).”
This follows the ANC’s successful securing of approval for the national budget on last Wednesday, despite the Democratic Alliance (DA), its largest partner in the GNU, voting against it.
The ANC gained support from several smaller parties, including ActionSA, which is not part of the coalition.
The DA has since filed an urgent application in the Western Cape High Court, seeking to interdict the VAT increase and set aside the parliamentary process that adopted the Fiscal Framework Policy.
Despite voting against the budget, the DA has maintained that it will not abandon the GNU, stating its doors are open for more dialogue on the matter and warning that a government without the DA would have dire consequences for the country’s economy.
DA leader John Steenhuisen, speaking to the media in Southgate, Phoenix, during the DA’s by-election campaign on Saturday, said he had also received letters from business leaders urging the party to remain in the GNU.
“We did receive a letter from business, indeed. And I think we’ve seen the market’s reaction to a government without the DA,” Steenhuisen said.
Ramaphosa further emphasised that business does not dictate decisions, whether in government or within the ANC.
“I can say that business does not dictate what happens in government. It does not dictate what happens in the ANC that I lead. We make our own decisions based on our considerations of everything that will advance the interests of our people,” Ramaphosa said.
“But of course, like any other citizen, they are entitled to express their views, their wishes, and their fears. So they too are entitled to do so, but in the end, the ANC will not be influenced by what business says,” he said.
“We are influenced by what our people say, so we are not under pressure from business or whoever.”
IOL previously reported that the DA was strongly condemned for its refusal to back the approval of the National Budget, describing the party’s stance as both “arrogant and disrespectful”.
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