IT may be that President Nelson Mandela is genuine in his desire to draw other parties into his Cabinet and we should accept at face value his statement that there is a great deal of talent in all parties which can contribute to government. But however benign his motivation, the effect will be malevolent: other parties will be co-opted as ANC partners, which will seriously impede the development of a normal parliamentary opposition.
If a firm offer is indeed made to the Democratic Party (DP) and Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), it will present both of them with different, but equally acute, dilemmas. The PAC will be tempted by the short-term opportunistic advantages: gaining a prestige and recognition they have been so far unable to attain on their own. Mandela is throwing them a potential lifeline. But in the long term they need a separate policy and identity – built on the ability to highlight the faults and weaknesses of the ANC government – if they are ever to provide a serious alternative.
Some DP leaders would relish the opportunity to exert a direct influence on government, rather than carping from the sidelines. And the changes in ANC economic policy have narrowed the gap between them and the DP, making opposition harder and participation easier. But the DP has to decide whether its aim is to influence those in power, or to be part of the long- term development of a parliamentary opposition large enough to challenge the ANC. Does the DP want to be part of a one- party democracy, or does it want to contribute to the emergence of a multiparty system?