South African Opposition Parties Begin Talks on the ANC’s Unity Plan

South Africa’s opposition parties have started talks aimed at considering the ruling African National Congress’ offer to become part of a government of national unity.
The meeting which started on Friday, June 7 is expected to continue to next week.
ANC failed to secure a majority in last week’s highly contested election, but some opposition parties are already rejecting the party’s offer because of deep-seated divisions.
Senior officials of the main opposition Democratic Alliance, or DA, will meet on Monday to discuss the centrist party’s approach to the negotiations. The top leadership of the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters, or EFF, party were holding talks on Friday.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is ANC leader, announced on Thursday that the party had decided to form a government of national unity and had invited all parties to join, a process that is expected to be complex considering vast divisions among the opposition parties themselves.
Most of the opposition parties don’t differ only with the ANC on various socioeconomic policies, but are also at extreme odds with each other on economic policies like land redistribution and affirmative action.
Shortly after Ramaphosa’s announcement, the EFF’s leader took to X to reject Ramaphosa’s proposal of a government of national unity and accused the ANC of arrogance despite failing to win a majority.
The EFF is among the top five parties after the election with just over 9% of the national vote, having declined from the 11% it garnered in 2019 but is expected to form a crucial part of the eventual outcome of the negotiations.
“The arrogance continues even after the South African voters issued warning signs. You can’t dictate the way forward as if you have won elections,” EFF leader Julius Malema said. “We are not desperate for anything, ours is a generational mission.