Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has rubbished claims by the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party leader and former President Jacob Zuma that the recently-constituted Government of National Unity (GNU) is meaningless.
Steenhuisen was speaking to SABC News on the sidelines of the Presidential Inauguration underway at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
The DA has joined the African National Congress (ANC) and other parties such as the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Patriotic Alliance (PA) and Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC).
According to Steenhuisen, “it would have been a sad day” if parties that are against the Constitution such as the MK Party and others governed the country.
“The real (problem) is now sitting with those anti-constitutionalists who are now trying to throw stones at the GNU. This is a party that campaigned on abolishing the Constitution, getting rid of the rule of law in SA, diluting the power of the courts, and extinguishing private ownership in the country.”
He adds, “That’s why it was so essential that the centre came together to keep the anti-constitutionalists out of office. It would have been a very different day in SA had the democratic centralists not had the foresight to reach out and find each other and let parties like MK into the Union Buildings where they would wreak havoc on our economy and the economic fabric of our country.”
The GNU is expected to resume talks around the formation of the executive Cabinet after Ramaphosa’s inauguration with ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula previously saying the GNU will also hold an all-inclusive dialogue with various stakeholders.
VIDEO | Steenhuisen communicates DA’s position on GNU Negotiations:
