One year on, GNU accused of prioritising political point-scoring over service delivery

As the country marks one year since the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU), political commentator, Goodenough Mashego, has criticised the alliance, saying it continues to treat the provision of critical services as an opportunity for cheap political point-scoring rather than genuine governance.

In June last year, 10 political parties bandied together to form the GNU following a watershed general election that saw the ANC lose its outright majority for the first time since the dawn of democracy.

While uncertainty gripped the nation over the direction of the country’s political landscape, the stability of the GNU has faced a number of tests.

Mashego says while coalition governments survive by being unstable, the GNU still has a long way to go to ensure public officials work cohesively to deliver essential services.

“The first stage in delivering services is legislative services and we have seen the legislative strides that the President has taken, Bela Act, Expropriation Act, NHI and the budget itself that had to go into budget 3.0. I wouldn’t say they’ve worked together because they’ve seen these quandaries as opportunities to score cheap political points.”

Mashego suggests that the working relationship within coalitions may be more effective at the local government level, where politics tend to be more fluid and pragmatic.

The political analyst, however, believes that next year’s Local  Government Election will be crucial for the partnership.

Mashego says the elections will give South Africans a clearer picture of the political landscape, and may serve as a preview of what provincial and national governments could look like going forward.

He believes the GNU is the future of the country, and this first year should be used as a case study on how it can be made into a better arrangement.

“Going forward there is no single party that will ever win 50+1 in South Africa, it’s just going to be impossible. Political parties must develop coalition strategies so that people can go into elections knowing who the party they are voting for is willing to work with.”

Mashego says political expediency, where organisations just go to bed with each other out of convenience can no longer work.

ActionSA has graded the GNU and believes it has failed to deliver meaningful reform.

The party’s Athol Trollip says while isolated pockets of improvement may be cited, they have yielded little to no tangible impact on the country’s socio-economic conditions.

“We attract criminals from around the world, our President’s response to all of these challenges is that he has called a R700 million National Dialogue. I wonder what will come out of that. If the Zondo Commission’s documents gather dust, what will happen with the dialogue?”

Trollip says the GNU has not moved the needle much on ethical leadership and public service.