Build One South Africa (BOSA) leader Dr Mmusi Maimane says his party has not held formal talks with the ANC on expanding the GNU, and will not join any coalition that includes the MK Party, EFF, or “racist parties.”

Maimane made the remarks during a media briefing held in Rosebank, Johannesburg, on Thursday. 

The briefing was convened in response to rising tensions within the GNU and ongoing fallout from the National Dialogue.

He also outlined BOSA’s political agenda for the fourth quarter of the year.

Maimane criticised the GNU, currently led by the ANC and including the Democratic Alliance (DA), Freedom Front Plus, Inkatha Freedom Party, Patriotic Alliance, GOOD, Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, United Democratic Movement, Al Jama-ah, and Rise Mzansi – for failing to deliver on its promises.

“BOSA wishes to address the Government of National Unity itself. The GNU has been in office for 14 months. What South Africans have seen and experienced is endless infighting at the expense of progress,” Maimane said.

He added that, by almost every available metric, there had been no meaningful progress.

“We take no joy in this, because it is South Africans who suffer due to governance inertia. It is a sign that the time for the same old approaches is over,” he said. 

“We need new voices, new ideas, and new vigour.”

IOL News previously reported that as the ANC intensifies its efforts to broaden the GNU, opposition party ActionSA has said it is not interested in joining the ruling coalition. 

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said he had only heard media reports of the ANC’s intentions and that his party had not been approached directly by Luthuli House.

Maimane confirmed that BOSA had not been formally approached by the ANC or any GNU partners to join the governing bloc.

“That said, informal talks have taken place and are ongoing. The door remains open from both sides, but it is conditional,” he said.

“Part of the speculation is that they are going to increase the number. I want to make this particular point – that we have not engaged the African National Congress. At the invitation of that engagement, we are not people who simply go along to get along.”

Maimane said that BOSA would not be drawn into internal ANC-DA tensions.

“South Africa is in crisis, so I’m not going to be invited into a fight between the ANC and the DA,” he said.

He also warned against a bloated Cabinet, criticising the current GNU for being the most bloated Cabinet in South Africa’s democratic history.

“Adding political parties like the MK Party and many others will simply complicate things and make it impossible for us to be part of what will become a potpourri of parties who are not ideologically – let alone governmentally – qualified.”

Maimane reiterated BOSA’s refusal to work with parties that “do not want to uphold and defend our Constitution”.

“If we don’t have a basis of agreement, what then is the purpose of the government? Citizens are desperate. They are sick and tired of politics in this sense,” he said.

“When white people are fighting, they are fighting each other. We need a governance road map that delivers for the people. It’s not GNU for bias. It must be GNU for delivery.”

Maimane outlined key conditions under which BOSA would consider joining the GNU, including that BOSA will not support a GNU that includes the EFF or MK Party.

“All GNU partners must sign a firm commitment to non-racialism, constitutionalism, the rule of law and justice through redress.”

He said there should be a government plan, in which a measurable plan must be adopted, focused on investment attraction, economic growth, job creation, crime eradication, corruption fighting, education reform, and fixing state-owned enterprises such as Eskom and Transnet. Ethical leadership must also be instilled at all levels.

He clarified that his criticism was not aimed at the DA specifically and said there was no squabble with the party.

Maimane, who became the DA’s first Black leader in 2015, led the party until 2019. He resigned after acknowledging he had lost the battle to transform the party into one more inclusive and relatable to Black South Africans.

“Without these prerequisite conditions,” Maimane said, “BOSA will not consider joining the GNU and bringing our values, expertise, and experience to the table for the benefit of all South Africans.”

simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za

IOL Politics

Source link