South Africa: Cracks widen in the government of unity

South Africa and its Government of  National Unity (GNU) face further rifts as corruption scandals continue to plague the country’s politics, according to Africanews plus agencies on July 3rd.

Just as the GNU marked its one-year anniversary on July 1st, the Democratic Alliance (DA) filed a police report claiming African National Congress (ANC) Minister, Nobuhle Nkabane, committed corruption.

The GNU formed after an unprecedented election result in which the ANC failed to win an absolute majority in parliament for the first time. The loss is largely attributed to the multiple speculations of corruption within the ANC, which haven’t stopped despite the formation of the ten-party coalition government.

In a statement released by the DA, they said, “Corruption in the executive has become standard practice under Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidency.” They further claimed they are “taking action because the president refuses to act against corrupt ministers.”

The DA accused Nkabane of deceiving Parliament in order to ‘fraudulently’ appoint individuals who closely aligned with the ANC, to the educational boards. They also mentioned the ongoing police investigation regarding corruption carried out by another member of the ANC, Thembi Simelane.

Simelane has been accused on multiple occasions of corruption throughout her political career. One of which involved fraudulent billing of South Africa’s national electricity provider, Eskom. The company often has issues in its operations, with a controlled outage occurring as recently as February 25th due to breakdowns at its coal plants, as revealed by Maghrebi.org via Africanews.

Simelane previously served as the Minister of Justice before being moved to the Ministry of Housing as a result of her involvement in a separate corruption scandal last year.

Tensions within the coalition government do not solely revolve around corruption. Maghrebi.org, as well as the Associated Press, reported the DA’s distaste with the proposed national budget, which they voted against on April 2nd, citing concerns over tax increases that would disproportionately affect the country’s poorest.

Furthermore, the rift in the government escalated after the dismissal of DA minister Andrew Whitfield on the grounds of an unauthorised trip abroad, according to the presidency.

The DA announced on the 28th of June its intention to withdraw from the “national dialogue,” which is an initiative proposed by President Ramaphosa that seeks to address the country’s most imminent issues. Despite this and their wider criticisms, the DA refuses to leave the coalition government.

As South Africa and its politics grapple with internal division and deepening mistrust within the coalition, the vision of unity that once defined the GNU seems increasingly more fragile.

Africanews plus agencies, Maghrebi.org, Associated Press