National dialogue will give GNU a mandate, says Mbeki

Former president Thabo Mbeki has thrown his weight behind the government of national unity (GNU), but warns that a national dialogue should be urgently convened to give the new government a mandate. 

The GNU was formed after the May 29 elections in which the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in three decades. The GNU comprises the ANC, DA, Patriotic Alliance, IFP, GOOD, the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, Freedom Front Plus, UDM, Al Jama-ah and Rise Mzansi. 

“We want the country to succeed, the economy to grow and crime to disappear, and so we wish the government of national unity to succeed,” Mbeki said on Wednesday during a public engagement at Unisa. 

The former president said a national dialogue, which is endorsed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, would ensure that the GNU consolidated and that coalition partners would not “keep referring to their own manifestos but to refer to what the people of SA have said”.

“Out of the GNU we hope that the challenges facing the country will be resolved,” he said. 

“At the end of that process [national dialogue] ... that then becomes the basis of the government of the country. It’s an important intervention and, hopefully, that national dialogue will give the GNU the kind of mandate it needs.” 

Ramaphosa previously mentioned during his opening of parliament address in June that the government would convene a national dialogue to consolidate the GNU. However, it is unclear when the dialogue will take place or who will take part.

“By establishing the government of national unity, by preparing for a national dialogue, we have deliberately set ourselves along the path towards a ‘co-operation nation’. We would like all of us as South Africans to behave like ‘weaver birds’ ... despite all the challenges, despite our differences, despite all the headwinds,” Ramaphosa said. 

maekot@businesslive.co.za