LISTEN | DA can leave GNU if its ministers are not allowed to exercise authority — Tony Leon
Image: Alet Pretorius/file image
DA GNU negotiator Tony Leon says if its ministers are not allowed to exercise authority effectively the party can exit the GNU.
“The DA can leave if it cannot exercise its writ — if its ministers are nothing other than mannequins in the shop window,” said the former DA leader.
Listen to the conversation:
Announcing his new executive on Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa named DA MPs as ministers of agriculture; education; communications and digital technologies; forestry, fisheries and the environment; home affairs and public works and infrastructure.
DA MPs were also named as deputy ministers of electricity and energy; finance; higher education; small business development; trade, industry and competition; and water and sanitation.
The GNU needs 201 MPs to govern. The ANC brings 159; the DA 87; the IFP 17; PA nine; FF Plus six; UDM three; Rise Mzansi two; Al Jama-ah two; and GOOD, PAC and UAT one each, giving the GNU 287 seats.
The DA has said it does not want the EFF or the MK Party to be part of the GNU, while the EFF and MK Party have demanded the DA be excluded.
Asked if the DA had an exit plan, Leon said: “I'm sure the party will consider its options [if] that happens, and hopefully it won't happen.”
Leon was speaking on Peter Bruce’s Podcasts From the Edge.
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