Steenhuisen stands his ground as some political parties view DA as gone from GNU

CAPE TOWN - While some political parties view the Democratic Alliance (DA) as good as gone from the Government of National Unity  (GNU) after breaking ranks on the budget fiscal framework on Wednesday, party leader John Steenhuisen is standing his ground.

Answering questions related to his ministerial portfolio in the National Assembly on Thursday afternoon, Steenhuisen hit back at members of Parliament who questioned his presence.

The party’s federal executive will on Thursday be grappling whether to stay or wait to possibly be pushed out, after weeks of budget wrangling pushed the blue party’s relationship with the African National Congress (ANC) to the brink.

After two days of high-budget drama in Parliament, normal programming resumed as ministers from the economics cluster answered questions related to their portfolios.

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Among them DA ministers and Steenhuisen whose presence the Economic Freedom Fighter’s Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi questioned.

"Yesterday [Wednesday], Gayton Mckenzie advised this minister to send his resignation. Is he still here as a minister?"

The Patriotic Alliance’s Marlon Daniels also took a pot shot at the DA amid the heckling from its members.

"Can those people who are busy clearing their offices for the next GNU to come in, can you please take control of them so we can have order in this house?"

But Steenhuisen told Daniels to hold his horses.

"I know they are desperate to get into the offices, but there’s no absence of presence yet, you will have to wait a little bit."

And it’s the DA’s next move that will determine the future of the GNU, and whether President Cyril Ramaphosa will drop the axe as the ANC cosies up to ActionSA.