South Africa’s government of national unity is completely dysfunctional

Freedom Front Plus leader Corné Mulder said there are no consultations or meetings among the political party leaders of the government of national unity.

He added that the ANC has hijacked international relations, which now reflect the ANC’s agenda rather than representing the government or South Africa.

Mulder shared this information during a discussion about South Africa’s political landscape with Mike Sham on the State of the Nation podcast.

South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU) was formed in June 2024 after the ANC lost its parliamentary majority in the May 2024 general election.

It is framed as a broad national-unity administration, but the government’s core engine is an agreement between the ANC and the Democratic Alliance (DA).

Other participating parties include the Inkatha Freedom Party, Patriotic Alliance, Good, PAC, Freedom Front Plus, and the United Democratic Movement.

Mulder said that during the initial discussion, which involved only the ANC and the DA, the ANC insisted on keeping international relations as its exclusive domain.

“When the Government of National Unity originated, the Democratic Alliance tried to negotiate an exclusive coalition with the ANC,” he said.

“In those discussions, the ANC insisted that international relations remain its exclusive domain. The DA accepted that. How, I don’t know,” he said.

He explained that when the coalition discussions collapsed, and other parties joined, those conditions were cast in stone.

“The ANC is using it to project their own perceptions, and we are paying the price. If a statement claims, ‘South Africa says the following,’ it’s not South Africa,” he said.

“It’s not even the Government of National Unity. It’s the ANC saying this or that regarding international relations.”

Mulder said that the ANC essentially hijacked South Africa’s international relations and is using the platform to further its own agenda.

No meeting between government leaders

Mulder said that there are no ongoing consultations and leadership meetings in the government of national unity.

“In the Government of National Unity, the leaders are supposed to meet from time to time. That’s how coalitions should work,” he said.

“This is where the political leaders from the different parties meet and agree on things, and then it goes to the executive and to the legislative program to implement them.”

The Freedom Front Plus pushed for this, and a meeting was then held between the political leaders in May 2025. However, nothing happened after that.

“We finally met in November 2025, and it was agreed that from then on, we would meet monthly,” Mulder said.

“We haven’t met since November 2025. It’s crazy. There is no commitment. Nothing at all.”

He explained that the result was that the ministers in the cabinet function in silos rather than as a cohesive unit working towards a goal.

Mulder characterised the government as a conglomerate of people managing separate departments rather than a functioning coalition.