ANC in Parly accepts it will have to make concessions to pass bills when GNU parties disagree with its policy positions

CAPE TOWN - The African National Congress (ANC) in Parliament said it's accepted there will come a time when it will have to make concessions to pass bills where Government of National Unity (GNU) parties can't agree with its policy position. 

But the party’s chief whip, Mdumiseni Ntuli, said that through regular engagement it's hoped these matters would be addressed before a dispute arises. 

He said that he was aware of the Democratic Alliance (DA)'s strong views on the SABC Bill for example, which is currently before the communications committee for consideration. 

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It seeks to change the broadcaster's funding model.

Taking stock of the GNU's working relationship in Parliament so far, Ntuli said that the mechanism to iron our sticky issues had been working well so far. 

"It doesn’t mean that there won’t be times when we disagree. There will still be times where we disagree, and each party will stand by its own position and seek to persuade other parties to the correctness of their own perspective. But our commitment is to regularly engage one another as GNU partners."

However, Ntuli said that collaboration in Parliament needed to extend beyond GNU partners to other represented political parties.

"There may be instances where one of the GNU partners also raises a matter that gets the support of the opposition because the opposition party believes they should not just oppose for the sake of opposing on that particular question. So, the engagement has to be a dynamic one which transcends the boundaries of the GNU."