There has been some argy-bargy between Fikile Mbalula and Helen Zille. They both have the same job: Secretary-General of the ANC in his case and Chairperson of the Federal Executive, in hers. Please don’t get too nervous. The two parties' leaders, President Ramaphosa and Minister John Steenhuisen, are still on honeymoon.
Even in the best marriages (not that this is a marriage), the parties have arguments and disagreements from time to time. That does not signal an imminent split. Fikile and Helen will say things that sometimes need to be said, and sometimes perhaps not. Knowing and trusting Helen as I do, she will generally be right. Fikile is a bit of a loose cannon, but I think his heart is in the right place.
The GNU, or Coalition, or whatever it is called, will endure until the DA, the ANC, or both, decide that they have had enough and cannot put up with their governing partner any longer. The consequence of the current government falling will be an ANC/MK/EFF coming to power. The only persons of consequence who want that to happen are Panyaza Lesufi, Gauteng Premier, and Julius Malema.
Lesufi ignored the instructions of Ramaphosa to create a so-called Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) by making miserly offers to the DA which he knew they would not accept. The DA is not in it for jobs; it is there to restore good governance to Gauteng and to make a difference. Lesufi did not dare to defy his leaders to the extent of doing a deal with the EFF and MK. He now has a minority government, packed with cronies, some of them totally incompetent, and he is dependent on the opposition to get votes, and the budget, through. Some of us are convinced that he has a secret deal with the EFF in terms of which they will not vote against him.
Lesufi’s malevolent influence extends to local government. He inflicted coalitions of the ANC and EFF on both Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni. Both have failed. Instead of following the lead of the parties at the national level and installing stable ANC/DA coalitions in both cities, Lesufi has persisted in his deals with the EFF.
Driving through the centre of these cities will demonstrate that the Coalition of Incompetents, particularly in Johannesburg, has led to a breakdown of government. Lesufi forced two successive highly unsuitable, inadequate, unqualified, mayors from Al Jamah on the City. What counted to him, to the EFF, and ANC councillors, was jobs for the boys and girls on the mayoral committee, not the interests of the residents of Johannesburg.
For the umpteenth time, Lesufi has given himself a black eye, this time with the so-called racism drama at Pretoria High School for Girls. The man just does not learn.
At the national level, four of the six DA ministers are the four youngest members of the cabinet. All six are performing well, bringing competence, youthful vigour, and energy to what would otherwise have been a rather too-mature executive. If the GNU succeeds in improving things in South Africa, justifying the renewed confidence in the future that many of us feel, there will be a demand from the voters that the national pattern should be repeated at the provincial and local levels. The local government elections loom in two years. Lesufi’s acolytes face being swept away as it dawns on ANC voters and councillors that his is the way of the past, whereas decent, stable coalitions of competent people led by the ANC and the DA are the future.
Douglas Gibson is a former chief whip of the opposition and a former ambassador to Thailand.
This article first appeared in The Star.
