The GNU is an ANC government and will ice out parties that disagree – Lesufi

The African National Congress (ANC) has affirmed during its January 8th celebration that if any GNU parties disagree with it, the ANC will continue without them. 

Speaking to ANC supporters in Soweto, Gauteng Premier and party provincial chairperson Panyaza Lesufi said that the ANC has discussed how, even though the ANC lost its majority at the 2024 elections, it “remained the party that received the highest numbers of votes.”

“Therefore, this government of national unity is an ANC government,” he said. “Therefore, those that want to work with us in government, they must know we invited them to come to government. They never invited us.”

The ANC dropped to around 40% of the national vote in the 2024 general elections, prompting a coalition with nine other ideologically diverse parties.

The Premier said that a resolution was taken on how to deal with conflict between the ANC and other parties in the GNU during the party’s National General Council (NGC).

This is a mid-term political conference to review progress and implement resolutions that took place in December 2025. 

“The NGC was very clear. If you don’t respect us, if you don’t share the same vision, if you don’t share the same path, especially on international relations, we will proceed with those that are willing to work with us,” Lesufi warned. 

There have been multiple widely published conflicts within the GNU regarding international relations, specifically between the ANC, the party’s largest GNU partner, the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Freedom Front Plus (VF+). 

Most recently, these disagreements relate to geopolitical issues connected to South Africa’s relationship with the United States Trump administration. 

When the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) announced that South Africa declared Israeli diplomat Ariel Seidman persona non grata, both parties came out in arms to criticise the move. 

Seidman, according to DIRCO, was expelled for the repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch “insulting attacks” against President Cyril Ramaphosa, and for the “failure to inform DIRCO of purported visits by Israeli officials.”

The VF+ and the DA both expressed the worry that the decision to remove Seidman would further deepen the rift between South Africa and the US after months of tension between the two countries. 

They have also been highly critical of DIRCO’s stance towards Iran.

Fault lines in the GNU starting to show

Prior to this, both parties criticised the ANC for DIRCO’s response to recent US military action in Venezuela, which saw the subsequent capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. 

DIRCO responded to the military action, calling the actions a “manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations.”

On the other hand, the VF+ said that this response was “done in all of our names” but that it “does not represent our views.” he added that “the end of the socialist failure in Venezuela should be welcomed.”

The DA furthermore critiqued DIRCO and all political parties that posted aligned stances on the matter on social media, arguing that South Africa’s foreign policy should be genuinely non-aligned and in the national interest.

The parties have furthermore criticised the ANC and DIRCO’s handling of rising tensions between South Africa and the United States directly. 

On 5 February, the DA’s Spokesperson on Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), Toby Chance, urged the ANC’s DTIC Minister, Parks Tau, to give in to US demands that led to the imposition of a 30% tariff on South African imports. 

The US has demanded that South Africa redress Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) laws. 

“The DA has consistently pressured Tau to review and replace the current discriminatory BEE system with empowerment that addresses actual needs and fosters community social investment,” said Chance.

This is “ instead of forcing investors to give up large chunks of their businesses, channelling that to enriching the same insiders over and over again,” according to Chance. 

“Minister Tau must also urge DIRCO Minister Ronald Lamola to entrench South Africa’s trade relationship firmly in the national interest and not to act on the ANC’s party political whims,” he added. 

The ANC, on the other hand, has repeatedly insisted that it will not be bullied by the US into abandoning its transformation policies. 

Despite the tension between the two biggest GNU partners, the DA and the ANC, experts are doubtful that either party would dare to be the one to blame for the collapse of the GNU.

Political analyst Zakhele Ndlovu previously told IOL that President Cyril Ramaphosa would not dare force the DA to exit the GNU, as he knows that investors and Western governments are on the DA’s side.

“The economy would be sabotaged, and that would mean higher unemployment, more poverty and South Africa doesn’t want to become another Zimbabwe,” he said.

On the other hand, the analyst said that, while the DA feels like an abused partner in a marriage, it does not want this marriage to end because it has more to lose than to gain in a divorce.

In his speech, Premier Lesufi added that the DA needs to decide whether it wants to remain in the GNU as a partner of the ANC.

“The DA must decide whether it’s in government or it’s in opposition. They can’t be both, and where we stand, we think the DA want to take us backwards,” he said. 

“Therefore, we are ready to build structures of the ANC so that by the time we go to the next elections, we are not begging any political party.”