OPINION | GNU presents parties with a chance to create policies to benefit the masses

The defeat of the ANC in the 2024 national and provincial elections marked an era of ideological compromise in SA's political landscape. This article argues that President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement of the government of national unity (GNU) as a strategic approach to form government after the defeat of the ANC signalled a last phase of compromise or betrayal to the left and compromised the ideological position of the tripartite alliance.

Since 1994, the SA politics have been characterised by a dominant party system at the national level led by the ANC and its alliance partners, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Cosatu glued together by the National Democratic Revolution strategy. Since its inception, the tripartite alliance's ideological orientation has always leaned towards social democracy – African nationalism with factions of communist – Marxist–Leninism with majority centre-left and minority far-left political position.

The current GNU, as it stands, is a composition of political parties from diverse ideological and political convictions (the ANC, DA, Patriotic Alliance, IFP, Good Party, PAC, UDM, and Al-Jama'ah). Steered by the statement of intent, the current GNU seeks to safeguard workers' rights and ensure adequate social protection for the poor and vulnerable, in simpler words, “Putting the people first”. We argue that the idea that the GNU is constituted in the interest of all South Africans is fundamentally flawed and marks a final stage of compromise of the left, ushering in a new wave of private capital accumulation and market opportunism.

Fundamental to this argument is whether parties like the ANC and PAC can maintain their ideological identity in an ideological fragment coalition operating in an already neoliberal capitalist economy. We are witnessing a strategic assassination of radical left ideology masked with the salient feature of market fundamentalism, reversing the two “two-stage” theory of revolution that the tripartite alliance long sought to advance.

The seventh administration marked another turning point in the SA political landscape. Ramaphosa, after the speaker (from the ANC) and deputy speaker (from the DA) were elected, was ushered in for his second term. The lines were visible and drawn as the seating unfolded.

The importance of this development is that it marked an alliance between the party with majority votes (ANC) and the second party (DA). This means the DA has relinquished its position as an official opposition in SA. This was confirmed when Ramaphosa formed his cabinet, allocating six cabinet ministries and deputy portfolios to the DA. Since its independence in 1994, SA has been characterised by mixed economics. The government has been at the centre of development while private capital and investors operated unabated, except by unions. Of course, there are government policies, but companies often ignore them with no consequence.

The economic posture of SA can be attributed to how it gained its independence. A negotiated settlement meant that compromises had to be made. The ANC abandoned its policies of nationalising strategic sectors of the economy and came up with shallow land policies. These concessions went uncorrected for the past 30 years. Despite the party falling into the hands of those who were considered leftists in its Polokwane conference, they failed to consolidate and expropriate land and restore it to black people. They failed to adequately introduce legislation that could ensure the inclusion of black majority in economic participation.

They instead fought among themselves. Their stay in power was characterised by corruption and patronage. The left in the ANC obliterated itself. The last nail in the coffin was the expulsion of ANC Youth League president – Malema. The loudest voice that championed the nationalisation agenda in the ANC. The leftist tripartite alliance partners of the ANC seem to have lost purpose. The partners are visibly lost and are no longer pursuing workers' struggle. The alliance partners supported Ramaphosa for his second term as ANC president despite unemployment hitting a record high. They did so, ignoring the huge retrenchments and Ramaphosa's intention to privatise state entities like SAA and unbundling of Eskom through his minister of state entities.

The election results, which saw the ANC hitting 40%, were always projected as a turning point. Like most liberation movements, the ANC was projected to lose its majority. On the formation of the government, one would have thought that this allowed the party to introspect and start pursuing pro-masses policies, which are left-leaning. However, the voting with the DA for the parliamentary officials was telling. The party opted for what it terms as “GNU”; chief among its partners is the DA. The ANC and the DA ideologically are not too different. However, the presence of Cosatu and SACP in the alliance makes these two fundamentally different. The class struggle has visibly eluded the SACP.

The GNU presents the ANC with a lifeline and the opposition parties with governing experience. Their performance on service delivery issues is fundamental as they will be a deciding factor in the next local government elections and the 2029 national elections. The interest of an ordinary South African is not whether Ramaphosa is president or not; it is the delivery of essential services like healthcare, education and infrastructure development.

• Kate and Sigoxo are both MA candidates in political studies at Nelson Mandela University