By Evans Dakwa
Johannesburg- It was a long drawn out meeting of the ANC’s National Executive Council (NEC), journalists waited well into the night as they held on to break the news to the nation of South Africa and the rest of the world especially regional peers whose interest and appetite was as whetted as the average South African.
Earlier in the day, there had been picketing with scores of ANC supporters registering their concerns with what they termed a media onslaught meant to push the revolutionary party to go into bed with the white dominated Democratic Alliance. Conspiracy theories were thrown around as the briefing which was initially slated for 18:00hrs ended up happening around 22:15hrs , deep into the night.
Journalists were informed the meeting had concluded at around 21:20hrs but waited for over an hour after going through a security check and eventually the President of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa came to the podium after opening remarks by the Chairperson Gwede Mantashe.
The usually jovial Ramaphosa was absent, what journalist and the rest of South African had in front of them was heavy face that looked like it was carrying news of the demise of someone.
“We have reached conclusion of this special meeting reflecting on outcomes of elections and task the movement now has, we have agreed that we will invite political parties to form a government of national unity” said Ramaphosa as he gave the nation the first concrete hint as to what his party had decided.
He went on to emphasise and remind everyone that even though his party had failed to garner enough votes to get the sole mandate to govern , the ANC remains the biggest party in South Africa.
“There can be no solution without the ANC, it is the responsibility of the ANC to maintain Unity, peace and stability in South Africa. The discussions have enabled us to emerge with a unified consensus decision, we must act with speed to safeguard national unity, non-racialism and non-sexism”
The NEC has agreed that this moment calls on the broad unity from the results of these elections it is clear that South Africans expect their leaders to work together to meet their needs and find common ground to act together”
Ramaphosa also said in establishing the GNU, the ANC will be building on a very rich history across divide of politics and ideology and that the negotiations task team led by Secretary General Fikile Mbalula is mandated to reach out to broader range of parties to promote inclusivity.
As his address wounded up, the people of South Africa were probably left with more questions than answers as to the modalities of the envisaged GNU and whether other radical leftist parties like the EFF and MK Party will agree to such a form of government which incorporates erstwhile political enemy in the DA.