Cape Town | Wednesday
SOUTH Africa’s apartheid-era New National Party (NNP) and the ruling African National Congress on Tuesday unveiled a new deal which would see the two former foes work together on provincial and national levels.
In a joint statement, the two parties said the power-sharing arrangement in the Western Cape province would allow for NNP appointments to posts in parliament, and create a national forum to seek consensus on government policy.
The two parties will appoint six members to the Western Cape’s provincial legislature, with the post of premier going to the NNP.
“The Premier will not have a casting vote and decisions will be taken on the basis of consensus. If consensus cannot be reached the issue will be referred to the respective national officials of each party or their nominees,” it said.
“The commitment by the two parties to cooperation is a long-term commitment beyond 2004,” the statement said.
The pact, which took more than a month to hammer out, was ratified by the ANC’s national working committee on Monday night and by the NNP’s extended federal council the next morning.
Following the 1999 general elections, the ANC won 18 seats in the province, the NNP 17 and the Democratic Party (DP) five.
The NNP made a pact with the DP to form the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), which helped put it in control of the Western Cape Province.
But a move by DP and DA leader Tony Leon to oust former Cape Town mayor Peter Marais, an NNP member, over a street-naming scandal sparked a crisis, prompting the NNP to withdraw from the 16-month-old alliance and move towards the ANC.
NNP leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Tuesday the transfer of power in the province would be done in an “absolutely orderly fashion” and that the NNP would give the DP 30 days’ notice of the termination of their power-sharing pact.
“This is a historic agreement and is based on trust,” the South African news agency Sapa quoted him as saying.
“It provides us with a key to reshaping the political landscape and start breaking down the old racial divisions.”
Referring to the failed post-1994 Government of National Unity (GNU), Van Schalkwyk said the two parties had to complete “the house” that former presidents Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk had built to “window level”.
The GNU split in 1996 when the NNP withdrew from the agreement which was set to terminate on April 30, 1999.
“This (new) agreement provides us with an opportunity to complete that house, roof and all.”
In defence of the new partnership, Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete said: “We do not want tokenism. We want something that is real.”
The ANC has had a closer affinity with the NNP than with any other party in parliament, and those opposed to the deal were not serious about reconciliation, he said.
The deal also provides for an ANC mayor for Cape Town, where former premier Gerald Morkel is set to take on the mayoral chain for the DA this week.
The ANC and NNP believe they can swing enough votes when an anti-defection clause is lifted early next year to oust him. – AFP