DA, ANC Agree to Form Government of 'National Unity', Jhon: 'DA Governs With The Republic of South Africa In a Spirit of Unity Collaboration''

SOUTH AFRICA, OMIKAMI-TV- South Africa’s African National Congress party and its longtime political rival the Democratic Alliance have agreed to form a coalition government.(15/3/2025).

The ANC failed to secure a simple majority in South Africa’s election last month, ending its 30-year majority control of the nation’s parliament following the end of apartheid and forcing it to seek coalition partners. The DA won the second largest share of the vote in the election.

“The DA has reached agreement on the statement of intent for the formation of a government of national unity,” party leader John Steenhuisen said on Friday. 

“From today, the DA will co-govern the Republic of South Africa in a spirit of unity and collaboration,” he added.

The center-right DA is widely seen as a predominantly white party. The coalition will also include the Inkatha Freedom Party, an ethnic Zulu party, and the right-leaning Patriotic Alliance.

Sihle Zikalala, a member of the ANC’s governing body, wrote on X that “Today marks the beginning of a new era where we put our differences aside and unite for the betterment of all South Africans,” he wrote in X.

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The ANC secured just 40% of the popular vote in the country’s May 29 election. The DA, the second-largest party, secured 22%. The ANC’s poor showing marks a tectonic shift in how South African politics operates, and has upended the way the country has been governed since the end of minority white rule in 1994.

Representatives from the ANC were locked in last minute negotiations with rival parties as they raced to agree to a coalition that would allow them to govern before Friday’s swearing of lawmakers in parliament.

Sources previously told Semafor Africa that parties were sparring over who would hold ministerial positions, and that they had only agreed to the bones of a plan, with the “flesh” still set to be hammered out.

Discussions about who would be included in the coalition flared tensions between some parties, with the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK), led by former president Jacob Zuma, saying they would not enter into a coalition if it was led by the ANC’s President Cyril Ramaphosa. 

Ms Zuma said the party would prefer to talk to “Black progressive parties” who were “like minded” and shared MK’s stance in calling for “land redistribution, free education, plus the nationalization of mines and the Reserve Bank.”

She said The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) had not begun coalition talks. 

“Most of us are waiting for the final results so that we know where we’re bargaining from, because numbers will matter,” she said, speaking at the election results center in the town of Midrand, near Johannesburg. And the DA said that it would not join a government with The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK party) or the socialist Economic Freedom Fighters.

"The main opposition Democratic Alliance looks set to remain the country’s second largest party," John Steenhuisen, its leader, said his party would not want to enter into what he called a “doomsday coalition” and could ultimately be the “least worst option.”

”The very worst thing for our economy, our people, would be a doomsday coalition with the ANC, EFF, MK or a combination of those,” he told Semafor Africa. He said it was important to prevent such a coalition because it would cause disinvestment, capital flight and a massive loss of confidence in the economy.”

The MK party could still pose issues for the ANC from the sidelines, Semafor Africa’s Sam Mkokeli wrote this week: "Zuma’s party received just under 15% of the vote, despite being established just six months ago."

SAM’S VIEW

With a 40% share of the seats in the National Assembly, it would take a miracle, or bad tactics, for the ANC to fail to form a government. It can bank on goodwill from a partner like the DA, which is terrified of the prospect of anyone but Ramaphosa being president of South Africa. As a result, the ANC and the DA are likely to vote together, even if the finer details around the partnership have not been thrashed out.

Despite looking on course to build a coalition, the ANC can’t afford to take things for granted because it has a sworn enemy in the MK party, led by former president Jacob Zuma. He is simply one of the most cunning politicians in the world. And his influence on South African politics is beyond doubt. Just look at the way in which his party won just under 15% of the vote having only been set up in December.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Zuma will try to divide the ANC from the outside. Senior political sources told me there’s a strong suspicion that some ANC legislators are secret Zuma sympathizers who could turn against Ramaphosa in a secret vote.

(Jenna Moon) OMIKAMI-TV