The South African Communist Party (SACP), which has expressed strong opposition to a coalition with the Democratic Alliance (DA), on Tuesday said it is “vindicated” by the DA’s “trickery, hypocritical and untenable” demands as parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU) meet to discuss Cabinet positions.

In a detailed letter to African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, DA federal chairperson Helen Zille said it was “only fair and reasonable” for the DA to be represented across all Cabinet clusters, including the ministries of Mineral Resources and Energy, Transport, and Trade, Industry and Competition. 

The DA asked for the ministerial portfolios of Public Works, Higher Education, and Public Service and Administration, with an eye on Home Affairs, Justice, and International Relations and Communication.

The SACP highlights that while the ANC did not receive an outright majority to form a government, it is important for everyone to recognise that it still is the largest electoral party according to voter support.

“The SACP Political Bureau denounced attempts by the DA, a party with a little over half of the ANC’s votes, at elevating itself to or usurping the role of the party with the largest votes. Any success from the trickery, brinkmanship and untenable demands by the DA will be tantamount to undermining the will of the people and stability in our economy and country,” it said.

The SACP described the DA as a neo-liberal party, whose leadership composition reminds South Africans of the “persisting legacy of racism”.

The SACP is accusing the DA of positioning itself against the GNU, claiming that this is obvious from its “manoeuvres to secure a hostile takeover” through a grand coalition with the ANC, also involving the Inkatha Freedom Party, in which, the SACP says, the DA will wield veto power under the guise of “sufficient consensus.”

Meanwhile, the SACP’s bimonthly meeting held on Monday, concluded that President Cyril Ramaphosa needs to move swiftly to appoint the Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, emphasising the importance of meaningful consultation and maintaining national stability.

“This requires decisiveness against any section that has resorted to trickery, brinkmanship and untenable demands to steal power and thus undermine the will of the people,” it added.

The SACP said the DA’s “trickery, brinkmanship and untenable” demands tended towards the division of the Cabinet, which it said would be akin to a federation of “unaccountable” Ministers if one part of the Cabinet operated separately and was accountable to the DA as its “Ministers”, rather than adhering to the unified whole Cabinet outlined in the Constitution.

“The DA’s demands fly in the face of the constitution and labour law. A party that has claimed to support the separation of party and state is now vehemently demanding the exact opposite. It has pretended to have a problem with ‘cadre deployment and anti-constitutionalism, but it is now demanding that the President must accept new practices which would amount to an exclusive DA cadre deployment,” the SACP said.