ANC pushes 'reset button' on GNU but DA remains... for now

IOL News

22-04-2025

African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Fikile Mbalula has slammed the Democratic Alliance (DA) for opposing the 2025 National Budget. He addressed the media on Tuesday.
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said the ANC will press the reset button on the Government of National Unity (GNU) and open talks to other parties to join.
He was speaking at Luthuli House on Tuesday following crunch talks with the party's National Working Committee following the DA and FF+ voting against the Budget Fiscal Framework.
However, he stopped short of kicking the DA and the FF+ out of the GNU stating that any change to the arrangement would only come from a decision of the party's National Executive Committee (NEC).
'Most of you have been asking about the future of the GNU,' Mbalula told reporters at a media briefing. 'The NEC adopted the position of the GNU and nothing has changed in relation to that.'
Mbalula acknowledged that the process of navigating the national budget within the framework of the GNU has introduced new complexities and required extensive consultation, unlike in previous administrations where the ANC held a clear majority.
'We've entered uncharted waters. There was never such a laborious, elaborate process of consultation on budget issues before,' he said. 'But now, because we are in a GNU and have lost the majority in government, it's important that budget engagements happen earlier and more comprehensively.'
One of the contentious issues, Mbalula noted, is the proposed increase in Value Added Tax (VAT), which has sparked public concern and opposition within the GNU. 'Nobody enjoys the raising of taxes. But governments, including ours, need to generate resources to serve the people,' he said.
Despite the challenges, Mbalula struck a defiant tone, saying the ANC remains committed to its mission of building 'a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist, united, and prosperous South Africa.'
'The struggle continues,' he concluded. 'The people's movement will not retreat.'
On Tuesday, IOL reported that the mission to boot out the Democratic Alliance (DA) from the Government of National Unity (GNU) has been put on ice by the ANC's National Working Committee (NWC), ordering the party to revisit consultations with its partners.
This included parties outside the GNU that helped the ANC to pass the 2025 National Budget.
According to ANC insiders, the move meant that a Cabinet reconfiguration was possible.
Despite this, the ANC members, particularly the parliamentary caucus, demanded action against the DA ministers after they rejected the budget over the VAT increases.
Tensions between the two leading parties in the GNU, ANC and the DA, escalated last week after Parliament passed the budget.