ANC's NWC wants DA reprimanded over alleged continuous defiance of GNU
Insiders in the party's NWC have told EWN that the DA must be held accountable for its conduct, which has at times been described as attempts to undermine the GNU and President Cyril Ramaphosa.
FILE: A Democratic Alliance flag. Picture: RODGER BOSCH/AFP
JOHANNESBURG - EWN can on Tuesday morning reveal that the African National Congress (ANC)'s national working committee (NWC) wants the Democratic Alliance (DA) read the riot act over its alleged continuous defiance of the Government of National Unity (GNU).
Insiders in the party's NWC have told EWN that the DA must be held accountable for its conduct, which has at times been described as attempts to undermine the GNU and President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The last straw for some in the coalition is the DA's recent refusal to back the first part of the budget vote in the National Assembly.
ALSO READ:
• DA taking wait-and-see approach to current impasse with ANC
• Mulder says Freedom Front Plus not quitting GNU over national budget disagreement
• SACP calls on ANC to take 'decisive action' and kick DA out of GNU
• Macpherson: 'I work until I don't and I'm a minister until I'm not'
The DA's said its refusal was an objection to the 0.5 percentage point value-added tax (VAT) increase.
The ANC's team of ten, which helped put together a GNU made up of the same number of parties, has now been instructed to wag a finger at the DA.
This, according to ANC insiders, is over the party's conduct, which includes that of ministers John Steenhuisen, Siviwe Gwarube and Dean Macpherson.
In October last year, Steenhuisen condemned President Ramaphosa for declaring that Russia's Vladimir Putin was a valuable ally and friend to South Africa, while Gwarube didn't pitch for the signing of the BELA Act into law.
Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson opposed the signing of the Expropriation Bill into law.
Even Deputy Minister Andrew Whitfield caught the ire of the ANC, which claims that he failed to formally declare when he undertook a quiet trip to the US in a bid to engage with America on foreign policy.
EWN understands that requests for formal talks have already gone out, with new rules aimed at protecting the budget and expropriation believed to be included.
The NWC's decisions are seen as part of a long game, which will likely be followed by a reconfiguration of Cabinet when the dust settles.