Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said on Monday his party is pleased that the Cabinet negotiations reaffirmed the agreed-upon mechanism to break deadlocks on policy matters, that any suspicious tenders issued in departments now under DA control will be swiftly investigated, and that senior civil service appointments will not be obstructed or politicised.

“Throughout this process, the DA has pursued a clear strategic objective,” he said.

President Cyril Rampahosa announced on Sunday his new Cabinet, allocating 12 portfolios to the party.

The DA has been allocated the Agriculture, Basic Education, Public Works and Infrastructure, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Home Affairs, as well Communications and Digital Technologies ministries.

The DA has further assumed Deputy Minister posts in the portfolios of Finance, Trade, Industry and Competition, Higher Education, Energy and Electricity, Water and Sanitation, as well as Small Business Development.

Steenhuisen said the DA’s dual objective was to ensure that it secured meaningful influence in government, while delivering on its election pledge to rescue South Africa from parties that seek to tear up the country’s Constitution.

He said the party’s commitment is to painstakingly rebuild the government institutions now under its custodianship, with the aim of translating the DA’s demonstrated track record of good governance and quality service delivery at municipal and provincial government, into national government.

“We will do so because our mission core in the Government of National Unity (GNU) is to serve, uplift and deliver dignity to all the people of our country. I have already told the DA members in Cabinet and Deputy posts that they carry an enormous responsibility on their shoulders,” he explained.

Steenhuisen noted that as the DA now took up its rightful place at the Cabinet table, the same priorities would continue to guide the work it did, acknowledging that it would not be an easy task.

“And we must not get carried away by the significance of the moment. The truth is that the road ahead will be a difficult one. South Africa has the highest unemployment rate in the world, one of the highest crime rates in the world, logistics and infrastructure is in an advanced state of decline, and corruption is endemic,” he said.

He explained that none of us should expect these problems to be resolved overnight and that it would not be solved by politicians alone.

He called on South Africans to help the GNU move the country in the right direction again.