Mbalula calls GNU snub by SACP 'unfortunate' and a missed opportunity

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has described the snub of its government of national unity (GNU) event by its alliance partner the SACP “unfortunate”.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ANC's GNU event where President Cyril Ramaphosa will reflect on the government's 100 days in office, Mbalula said the SACP missed an opportunity to reflect — positive or otherwise — on the GNU. 

ANC leaders, including some of its national executive committee members, will congregate at the gates of the party's headquarters at Luthuli House on Monday evening to reflect on its decision to go into a GNU. 

The party has been at odds with its allies in the SACP, who have labelled the new government led by the ANC “problematic” due to the involvement of the DA and Freedom Front Plus. 

The SACP, which was invited to the event, announced on Sunday it would not attend. This is the first time the SACP has rejected an invitation to an ANC event since Ramaphosa took office. 

The SACP is considered the brain trust of the alliance and has in the past influenced policy direction of the ANC-led government, making it a powerful component of the ANC.

Its snub comes as Mbalula has been embroiled in a public spat with Gauteng ANC chairperson Panyaza Lesufi whose provincial executive committee has been branded anti-GNU despite protests against this label. 

Mbalula said the ANC's event was not in celebration of the GNU but rather to reflect and thank the 6-million voters who supported the party during the watershed May election.

“There is nothing to celebrate. We are thanking our people for voting for the ANC and committing ourselves and reflecting on these 100 days [and] what we have done. They [SACP] will miss the opportunity to reflect on the GNU,” he said. 

SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila has also declined bilateral meetings called by the ANC which would have taken place on Monday morning before the event commenced, Mbalula said. 

“We put [the meeting] at 6pm and we can't reverse it because we wanted to cater for this bilateral meeting. Now we will have to work out a date for a new bilateral, as well as the alliance political committee meeting that has to take place,” he said, adding the SACP missed an opportunity to reflect on its own experience with the GNU.   

Despite these tensions, Mbalula said the ANC was moving ahead, saying nothing that will deter it. He said South Africans viewed the GNU in a positive light, adding the country must also celebrate 200 days without load-shedding.

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