Marianne Merten and Drew Forrest
New National Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk can forget about a Cabinet post in the near future, after the African National Congress signalled this week that key features of its pact with the NNP have been put on the back burner.
Senior ANC sources said there was no immediate prospect of a national Cabinet post for the NNP, or of positions in provincial cabinets dominated by the ANC.
These appeared to be central to the pact negotiated by ANC chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota, and to Van Schalkwyk’s withdrawal from the Democratic Alliance last October.
The pact says: “It is the objective of the two parties, after a process of consultation, to appoint NNP MPLs to the executive councils and legislative structures of provincial legislatures with an ANC majority and an NNP presence.
“The spirit of participatory governance will also be reflected in appointments in national government, parliamentary and other appropriate structures.” This gave rise to speculation of at least a Cabinet job for Van Schalkwyk.
However, one senior source said: “We see our relationship with the NNP as an open-ended process, not a done deal. Cabinet posts for the NNP could happen down the line. But we want to see how well the parties cooperate in the Western Cape government.”
The source said that the national executive committee, meeting shortly after Lekota’s announcement, decided that too much had been conceded from a position of strength and that the pact should be viewed as a negotiating stance.
The national executive committee had given the green light only for floor-crossing legislation and coalition government in the Western Cape.
There was particular unhappiness from provincial ANC officials who sit ex officio on the national executive committee, given that provincial cabinets would have to be reshuffled to accommodate the NNP. The Constitution restricts the membership of provincial cabinets to 10 members plus the premier.
A survey of the seven ANCcontrolled provinces this week indicated no readiness to start consultations leading to NNP representation in the provincial cabinets. ANC representatives supported cooperation and were ready to cede posts within provincial legislatures, but said cabinet reshuffles were not on the cards.
Questions about including NNP members in provincial cabinets were met with “that’s not part of the agreement” and, in several cases, referrals to provincial ANC structures.
ANC national spokesman Smuts Ngonyama said: “There’s no place for that [in the agreement],” adding that further consultations would determine the form and level of cooperation. “The process is still unfolding. It’s a developing and dynamic relationship,” he said.
The pact appeared to suffer a further blow on Wednesday when the Cabinet referred back for consultation with various political parties a package of laws allowing public representatives at national, provincial and local levels to cross the floor without losing their seats.
However, ANC parliamentarians were confident the two constitutional amendments and two amendments requiring ordinary majorities would make it on to the statute book in the near future.
“The principle of floor-crossing has the support of all parties, and is needed to restore stability to local government,” said one. “We can’t have a situation where two elements of a party [the DA] can’t live together at local level.”
There was an urgent need to clear the decks on floor-crossing so that the far more important review of the electoral system, required for the next election, could take place.
It is possible that the Cabinet will again consider the draft legislation at its next meeting in two weeks.
The NNP leadership refused to be drawn on whether they thought Van Schalkwyk was still in line for a Cabinet position. That was the president’s prerogative, said NNP executive director Darryl Swanepoel. “We are not in a position to comment.”
Senior NNP officials this week also remained adamant they were not worried about delays on floor-crossing and the lack of action at provincial level. It was preferable not to rush through laws vulnerable to constitutional challenge, they said.
They also took heart from Lekota’s presence at the NNP’s extended caucus meeting last Friday.
NNP Mpumalanga leader Chris Macpherson said: “It’s never been about securing posts, but the broader, long-term cooperation. We never said it will have to happen overnight.”
Gauteng NNP leader Johan Killian said cooperation had already taken shape. “I can get things done. I have access to government. That’s more important than a post in government.”
The defection laws are crucial if the NNP is to reclaim its party identity and structures, particularly at local-government level where it fought the December 2000 municipal poll under the DA banner.
Once NNP councillors can openly recommit themselves to the party, the balance of power in the Cape Town unicity, with its approximately R9-billion budget, could swing in favour of an ANC-NNP cooperative administration.
The changes revolve around amending the constitutional provisions governing participation at all three tiers of government. A constitutional amendment is required to allow for possible changes in representation at the National Council of Provinces should current provincial representatives cross the floor. In addition, the Municipal Structures Amendment Act must be amended by simple parliamentary majority to remove the prohibition on floor-crossing in councils.
It is understood the national executive committee instructed the ANC drafters to set a lower limit on defections at 10% of party representatives. The idea is to allow for parties to fragment and reform, while stemming the random and politically destabilising movement of individuals.
The legislation is likely to provide for “windows of opportunity” for floor-crossing, rather than a blanket licence for movement at any time.
An earlier proposal that the president should have the discretion to decide when and at what level defections should happen met with a storm of protest from opposition parties, who argued that the system could be manipulated for party advantage.