African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa said while the party acknowledged that the outcomes of the 2024 national election were a strategic setback for the movement, setting up the Government of National Unity (GNU) is an opportunity to mobilise across society and across political differences to build a country that “truly belongs to all who live in it, black and white”.

Ramaphosa was reflecting of the GNU’s first 100 days in office when he addressed ANC supporters on Monday night and said that the formation of the GNU was an opportunity to take forward the struggle to build a society for everybody to prosper in.

The 2024 elections was the first time since the advent of democracy that the ANC did not achieve an outright majority at a national level.

Ramaphosa said the establishment of the GNU was a historic occasion, bringing together into one administration parties from across the political spectrum.

He said all 11 political parties went into the GNU aware of their significant ideological and political differences, and fundamental issues on which they differed and acknowledged that there were bound to be tensions and strains.

"...but we also know, from many decades of experience, that the ANC has the strategic clarity and the political capacity to work alongside a wide range of forces in pursuit of progressive goals," he said.

Ramaphosa pointed out that ultimately, the GNU should not be judged by the political orientation of the parties that constitute the administration, but by the impact that it has on the lives of poor and working class South Africans.