Watching developments in the Government of National Unity (GNU) over the recent period, I remain hopeful that its being set up will represent a new opportunity for recovering, developing and consolidating democracy in South Africa. (This article takes up issues raised earlier)

There are nevertheless - every second day - moments that seem like crises that could lead to the dissolution of the entire project. One of those was a dispute over the ANC’s right or the president’s right to admit parties into the GNU without consulting other parties who are members, and fairly aggressive exchanges between DA Federal Chair, Helen Zille and ANC Secretary-General, Fikile Mbalula (Mbalula with DA leader John Steenhuisen had earlier been less heated and more flexible. See report.

That crisis is re-emerging in a different form in relation to the appointment of Cabinet ministers, with disputes over the powers of the president and what level and character of representation the DA as the second largest (minority) party, after the ANC, is entitled to have. (See Peter Bruce in the Sunday Times, behind paywall).

My sense is that there are some people who may be less aware of the fragile nature of this unity and the importance of maintaining and building the unity. Consequently, they are willing to speak publicly on an ad hoc basis and create risks. Equally, the ANC needs to be more consultative and have a better appreciation of its changed status in relation to other parties, especially the DA.

I think it's very important to move slowly in this phase of developing unity and be willing to make compromises, and for the president, in constituting the Cabinet, to understand that it's not simply a case of what the Constitution says is the right of the president.

It must be seen as that right in the context of a weakening of the ANC’s base and the need to retain the support of the GNU partners, especially the DA with the second largest number of votes, and make the appointments while taking that fully into account (see Peter Bruce above).

Obviously, one has to appoint people who are suited to the job and command support. However, it sometimes means that some people who may be veterans in one or other party, particularly the ANC, need to be evaluated in terms of what they have done, how they have done their work, and whether it will help or hinder the work of the GNU to keep them in a specific position or put them in the Cabinet.

Obviously one case that comes to mind is that of Gwede Mantashe, who was named in the Zondo Commission for free security installed in three homes and other irregularities (see Carol Paton - this appears to be behind a paywall).

OUTA fingers Mantashe, Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education in the last Cabinet and Chair of the SACP as a non-performer allegedly implicated in irregularity, and Sindisiwe Chikunga, Minister of Transport for non-performance.

We have to ask ourselves not just what will unite the parties within the GNU, or who may resist offering positions to the DA and others. What will keep the ANC and its allies “happy” cannot be decisive in governmental decisions if what is required to keep them contented will destroy the operation and realisation of the objectives of the programme of the GNU. It is important that there be a discussion between the parties to make it clear that this has to be a consultative and functioning GNU.

A functioning GNU delivers on its objectives and that has to supersede the sensibilities of certain individuals, in some cases. The aim is not to snub people who have made contributions of one or other type for very long. The goal is to make the GNU work, and it cannot afford to make avoidable mistakes with non-performers.

It may not be part of the language of some who derive from the left, as I do, but what the “markets” think is important for stability in a time when investments are low and confidence in our economy has to be re-established. Words like “stability” are not part of the language that many of us are accustomed to using, but that word is exactly what is needed now and that means there is a need to “stomach” the adequate representation (ie related to its electoral performance in a similar way to the ANC) of the DA.

That appears to be what “markets” want from reports of market observers. There was considerable market support for an arrangement for unified government between the ANC and DA. The notion of stability when attached to the DA has evoked even more protests on social media. In truth, it is only the DA that has the power to provide the support to the ANC that is needed in a government of minorities and hence ensure stability.

Despair, disillusionment and hope

Recently, large numbers of South African people, members of the electorate, were disillusioned or very unhappy about the situation in the country. Many did not vote or even register to vote. And even if they didn't use words like disillusionment or despair, they could see no path out of the crisis of post-apartheid South Africa and the collapse of the promise that the ANC once held (for me) and very many other people.

Personally, I have not used terms like despair or disillusionment. I've written often arguing that we must find a way of creating a different state of mind, looking at where we are in the South African situation, what we can do in that situation, with or without cooperation with existing political parties and organisations.

It may have been correct to combat despair, but what was lacking was a vehicle for those who despaired to channel their energies, and I had not been able to point to that until now.

The emergence of the GNU in the wake of the shocking (but in some ways expected) election results where the ANC was battered and received only 40% of the vote, has created a sense of hope for very many people.

I'm not using the word optimism. I'm speaking of hope. Optimism and pessimism refer to states of mind which some people have and other people don't have. And it just happens that one may always have an optimistic “positive” state of mind. The mindset derives independently of any action that the individual might take. (See Raymond Suttner)

The notion of hope refers to a situation where a condition exists where it's possible to bring about changes through the agency of individuals and/or organised bodies of people.

In the context of South Africa today, the context is one of crisis, a crisis of democracy, a crisis of the economy, a crisis of social welfare, a crisis of inequality, and on a range of other fronts - legality, criminality and so forth. The recognition of the crisis leading to forming a GNU is the context for hope that needs to be realised.

My sense is that the statement of intent and the inaugural address of President Cyril Ramaphosa are pitched in terms that are open to debate. (See https://www.polity.org.za/article/statement-of-intent-of-the-2024-government-of-national-unity-2024-06-18 and https://dirco.gov.za/address-by-president-cyril-ramaphosa-on-the-occasion-of-the-presidential-inauguration-19-june-2024-union-buildings-tshwane/ ). They are all phrased in terms that are meant to indicate the aspiration for a broader and deeper democracy, but those terms are themselves contested, their meanings are open to further debate. Their validity may also be contested (I will return to this in later articles, as one of the reasons to hope for regeneration of democratic life).

So when we say or I say that we have an opportunity to emerge from a situation where we saw little hope of transformation, that doesn't mean that that process of emerging is complete or has even started in a significant way.

What I think it means is that we need to identify commonalities, and there is already this commonality in the statement of intent. And we need to safeguard that unity behind the statement of intent. One of the best ways of safeguarding it is to build the unity and take it further.

And the way to take it further is by intense discussions among the component parts, organisations that are members, but also engagement over these with the society as a whole - located in a range of spaces.

The Statement of Intent may have been signed by the parties that have joined the GNU, but it remains very important to involve the public in interpretation of this document, and what the president said in his inaugural address.

Let us inject our hopes, aspirations, needs, and areas of unhappiness into engaging with the interpretation. It's not just for the leaders to give that interpretation. We as members of the public, located in a range of different places, need to ensure that what we think is important becomes part of the considerations in the development of a process of realisation of this GNU and its objectives.

We don't have to wait to be invited. It is our right if we belong to a constituency. We all do belong in an intense or lesser way to one or more constituencies or potentially organised groups with particular ways of interpreting the Constitution of South Africa, the human rights that are entrenched in that Constitution, and are also part of the people for whom the objectives of the GNU are intended.

All of us who have this location or potential location, and by virtue of being South African citizens or inhabitants (I prefer “inhabitants” who are supposed to enjoy most of the rights, because I include people of non-South African origin, unlike at least one party to the GNU, the Patriotic Alliance), we have an inherent location. The question is whether it is active or passive, purely observer or also a participant.

We haven't been invited to participate, but we have that right and we must use that right and inject what we believe are the meanings into the future.

Raymond Suttner is an Emeritus Professor at the University of South Africa and a Research Associate in the English Department at University of the Witwatersrand. He served lengthy periods as a political prisoner. His current writings cover mainly contemporary politics, history, and social questions.