By Junior Lebese
The Government of National Unity (GNU) appears to be nothing more than the failed Democratic Alliance (DA)’s Moonshot Pact, rebranded under a different name.
The African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) has announced the GNU as its preferred model instead of a direct coalition with other parties.
However, the developments leading up to these discussions and the public relations manoeuvrings suggest that there is a snake in the grass.
The public should not be overly excited about this development; the GNU is essentially a Trojan horse to bring the DA into a coalition with the ANC, while sidestepping the public outrage that rejected a direct ANC-DA coalition.
The DA and the neoliberals within the ANC are aiming to secure a coalition without officially labelling it as such—a post-election Moonshot Pact in disguise.
Rejected by almost 80% of the voters, the DA has been at the forefront of shaping the coalition discussions.
The party arrogantly stipulated that it will only agree to the proposed GNU if the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and Patriotic Alliance (PA) are excluded. This condition reveals the underlying deception in the whole affair.
Reflecting on the deceptive naming of events, it is worth revisiting a statement by the former Investec Chairman, Stephen Koseff, at the 2019 “Business Is An Adventure with Sir Richard Branson” event.
Speaking to an audience hosted by Redi Tlhabi, Koseff said, “The uncle [Cyril Ramaphosa] needs to take a few tough decisions.
He is held back by his party, particularly the left of his party. Unless he takes tough decisions—and the first thing I have been saying for months now—is you fix Eskom.
You have to bring private capital in. Now if they hate the word privatisation, use any word, call it public-private partnership, call it anything, just do it!”
Koseff's most critical line was, “If they hate the word privatisation, use any word, call it anything, just do it!” The current naming battles over coalitions echo Koseff's sentiment. Renaming the ANC-DA coalition to achieve the same strategic objective is precisely what is happening here.
The DA’s propaganda strategy is in full swing, with phase two now underway. Initially, the propaganda aimed to create confusion, rile emotions, set the coalition agenda, and polarise what should be a rational coalition debate within the ANC.
Black political parties have been vilified to mobilise South Africans towards an ANC-DA coalition, even if it is under a different name.
The “liberators” (ANC) and the “apartheid collaborators” (DA) are engineering their intended coalition outcome using underhanded tactics laden with racial undertones.
The narrative suggests that black political parties are bad for the economy, and only a coalition with a white political party will be accepted by South Africans.
We have seen both the ANC and the DA somersault on their core political positions like Olympic gymnasts on a trampoline. The DA has shifted from burning the South African flag to “rescue South Africa” from the “corrupt ANC,” to contemplating a political union with the same ANC.
The ANC, on the other hand, has moved from “defending the gains of democracy” from the DA to now being ready to embrace the very enemy that defines its existence.
In all these developments, particularly judging by the “swart gevaar” propaganda, it is the DA that has a solid plan and strategy for how it will benefit from this coalition.
The DA seems to have prepared for this period years ago, and many of Helen Zille’s statements and political positions hint at their long-term strategy.
With the failed Moonshot Pact now abandoned by all political parties, the GNU appears to be its substitute.
The coalition vows between the ANC and the DA seem to be already written, and now it is time for propaganda and subterfuge to drive the arguments for the coalition, especially among the rank and file of both parties.
Prominent ANC leaders and stalwarts, such as Pallo Jordan, Cheryl Carolus, Sipho Pityana, Kgalema Motlanthe, and Snuki Zikalala, have been hard at work convincing the ANC’s rank and file to accept this deadly marriage of convenience with the DA. Some “embedded members of the DA” in the ANC NEC have been doing the same.
The National Democratic Revolution (NDR), strategy and tactics documents that should guide the ANC’s response to this unexpected development have been cast aside. False parallels between 2024 and the 1994 GNU are drawn, but the 1994 compromises are vastly different from the current proposal.
With his recent announcement, Ramaphosa has effectively opened the GNU WhatsApp group, added everyone to it, and is now waiting for those who will exit, leaving the ANC and the DA with the other parties scrambling to benefit from the disguised “Moonshot Pact Lite.”
The EFF has already indicated that it will not party to a coalition with the enemy, the DA. The DA’s strategy of vociferously rejecting the black parties is a sharp negotiation tactic used to shape who stays or leaves the GNU.
To borrow from Shakespeare, will a coalition of Moonshot Pact by any other name smell as sweet? It is for the South Africans to decide.
Junior Lebese is a pseudonym of a long-serving member of the ANC in good standing, and a social commentator. He writes in his personal capacity.
** The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of IOL or Independent Media
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