Ramaphosa 'between a rock and a hard place' over GNU cabinet

Bongani Bingwa is joined by political analyst at Nelson Mandela University, Dr Ongama Mtimka

Click audio player below to listen to Dr Mtimka's thoughts on how President Cyril Ramaphosa must choose a new cabinet with members of the GNU.

President Cyril Ramaphosa remains in the unenviable position of having to select a cabinet that will satisfy the various signatories to the Government of National Unity (GNU).

Friday will mark two weeks since the first members of the deal signified their intent to work together, since then, eight more parties have joined.

Negotiations over ministerial positions are said to have been ongoing over the weekend, as parties hunkered down in the hopes of reaching an agreement early this week.

Mtimka says Ramaphosa's job is not just about balancing multiple interests, it's also about managing perceptions.

"Whenever he is giving concessions about portfolios that are very important to the ANC and the tripartite alliance, then he falls into that categorization of a person that's been creating DA-lite within the ANC."

- Dr Ongama Mtimka, Political analyst - Nelson Mandela University

"If he refuses to give some of the portfolios that the DA may be interested in, they may seem as playing hard to get and not treating them as an opposition partner seriously enough."

- Dr Ongama Mtimka, Political analyst - Nelson Mandela University

Writing in his weekly newsletter on Monday, Ramaphosa said the GNU cannot be preoccupied with the jockeying for positions, tussles over appointments or squabbles within and between parties.

He said its success would be measured by the extent to which parties were prepared to focus on how they would govern, together, rather than a pre-occupation on who would govern.

"It's the function of how well the leaders can rise to the occasion, it's not the circumstances themselves that will undo the coalition, it's failure to rise to the occasion."