By Kgothatso Madisa, Lizekwa Tandwa and Sisanda Mbolekwa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has convened a secret retreat with leaders of political parties in the GNU to hold talks on the state of the coalition government that could have implications for its future.
The event begins today and will end tomorrow.
The Sunday Times has learnt from impeccable sources in the government, the ANC and opposition parties that Ramaphosa had finally resolved to convene a two-day strategic session with GNU party leaders at the Cradle of Humankind in Krugersdorp.
The president invited the parties to the meeting without giving them its agenda, and ordered them to keep it private.
Ordinarily, a meeting of this nature would be publicly announced, with the media invited to briefings before and after it.
The meeting also comes amid intense speculation within the higher echelons of the ANC that Ramaphosa is planning to take a step back from leading the government early next year.
The functioning of the GNU is problematic. At the moment, we have a system, to a certain extent, whereby the GNU is steered by the president, [who] then operates through the executive — Corné Mulder, FF Plus
This is according to several ANC leaders who contacted the Sunday Times this week and indicated that Ramaphosa seemed determined to exit the government before the end of his official five-year term in 2029. But it is unlikely Ramaphosa will communicate his alleged plans to the GNU before engaging with relevant ANC leadership structures — its top seven officials, the national executive committee (NEC) and tripartite alliance partners — on the issue.
Ramaphosa is said to be unhappy about his relationship with DA leader John Steenhuisen and his party, which has frequently challenged laws such as the Expropriation Act and, more recently, the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act.
The president has also not taken kindly to often being second-guessed by ANC stalwarts such as former president Thabo Mbeki.
Since the formation of the GNU in June last year, Ramaphosa has been under pressure to convene a retreat with his partners in government.
While it is not clear what will be on the meeting’s agenda, GNU partners are set to raise such issues as the dominance of the ANC and the DA, which “behave like the big brothers of the partnership” and allegedly often undermined other partners.
Finalising the framework for next year’s budget — to avoid a repeat of the bust-up that took place in February this year — is also likely to feature prominently on the agenda.
The proposed expansion of the GNU to accommodate parties such as the EFF may also be discussed at the meeting.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, told the Sunday Times the retreat was long overdue. He confirmed it was a two-day meeting attended by the leaders of the various GNU members.
Magwenya said the meeting was closed to the media and had not been publicly announced, to allow leaders the time and space to speak “freely and openly”.
“[It’s] nothing fancy or over the top — just an opportunity for the leaders to gather, focus on thrashing out all matters relevant to the GNU, and discuss issues most pertinent to taking the country forward," he said. “It’s a closed session. It won’t be opened to the media, to give the leaders a good opportunity to engage freely and openly. That’s about it.
“The session is long overdue. It’s been difficult to schedule owing to the often clashing diaries of the leaders. As you know, they are all involved in various capacities of state leadership.”
Freedom Front Plus leader Corné Mulder, whose party is in charge of the department of correctional services, said that though Ramaphosa had kept the meeting’s agenda a secret, he was happy it was finally happening.
“We don’t have any details at this stage about what the discussions will be about; we were not sent an agenda,” he said. “We don’t know whether this will be like a first round of getting to know one another better; it’s difficult to predict and say. It will be a waste of time if it’s [just] a one-off [and] means nothing.”
Mulder said those attending would have to discuss the state of the GNU and the reality that it was being led from the Union Buildings and not by the leaders of political parties.
“The functioning of the GNU is problematic. At the moment, we have a system, to a certain extent, whereby the GNU is steered by the president, [who] then operates through the executive. But the normal way of steering a coalition like this should be by political parties and their heads, who should meet regularly, like every 14 days or so, which I have not seen,” Mulder said.
“I think we are not on the right track at the moment, but I hope that this can be the first step [towards] trying to rectify [the situation] and get the GNU on the right course with regard to its functioning. With regard to substantive issues, we need to get the economy to grow and [generate] jobs, so we first need to get going with a discussion about economic policy. Secondly, [we need to address] the positioning of South Africa’s international relations and deal with the challenges [associated with] normalising relations between South Africa and the US, [including] the tariff situation. All these things are … too [much] for one meeting, so I don’t think we will get [through all of them] at this stage. This [meeting] feels like an informal gathering [right now].”
Another party leader, who did not wish to be named, said Ramaphosa’s invitation had been received several weeks ago — after months of radio silence.
“I do think [the meeting is] important for us to discuss the state and stability of the GNU. Secondly, [we need to talk about] a shared legislative agenda — what legislation we want to prioritise this term, [taking into account that] the budget is legislation as well,” the party leader said.
“On the budget, you don’t want to have the same problems [we had earlier this year], so you want [to have those discussions]. And the final [important issue] for me is having clear terms of reference for the clearing house mechanism. I know these will [ultimately] be tabled for approval, but [discussing them now] will give structure to how we work together going forward. So [the meeting is] an important retreat with just the leaders.”
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