Cape Town — With more than 10 parties making up the Government of National Unity (GNU), those left behind in opposition have vowed to hold the government accountable at all costs.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), and ActionSA have openly rejected the opportunity to join the GNU and have been reluctant to join the GNU as they fear the opposition will be severely weakened. All three parties have said they will hold the government accountable, SABC News reported.
The EFF has promised to take opposition politics to another level in the 7th democratic Parliament.
“Opposition politics is as strong as ever with the EFF occupying those benches. We will relentlessly continue to hold the executive accountable, we are actively pursuing justice for the crimes that occurred on [President]Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm.” EFF spokesperson, Leigh-Ann Mathys, said.
We are geared up to challenge that white supremacist DA and moreover, we are committed to preventing any regression in transformation caused by the appointment of white supremacist ministers by that so-called GNU,” Mathys added.
According to IOL, the EFF labelled the cabinet “bloated” after departments were separated to accommodate “racists” in the party and the party’s sole responsibility would be to undermine the backward policy advancements of the ANC-DA grand coalition” at all levels of government and on the picket lines.
♦️In Pictures♦️
The EFF Members of Parliament during the induction programme that took place today.
As an organisation, we remain the most dependable force of the poor, rejected, and forgotten masses of our people, and will robustly hold this coalition accountable in the… pic.twitter.com/lqenb4pDyG
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) July 5, 2024
ActionSA has vowed to use its opposition status to hold the government accountable on all fronts and would make its voice heard.
“We are going to punch far above our weight. We have a history in South Africa of opposition parties that fight wrongdoing that operate way bigger than they are in real life and we are going to work with other political parties to make sure that our voice of six Members of Parliament feels like 60. We are going to be the point of the spear of accountability in the South African Parliament and will do so unapologetically,” ActionSA chairperson, Micahel Beaumont, said.
TimesLIVE reported that ActionSA has also criticised the bloated cabinet and called our Ramaphosa for going against his word in 2018 to reduce the cabinet. The party will remain an “uncompromised opposition”.
📹 WATCH: ActionSA Parliamentary Caucus Leader @AtholT speaks on the opposition role that ActionSA will play in Parliament to ensure that office-bearers in the new administration are held to account. pic.twitter.com/UnZDrYdWhV
— ActionSA (@Action4SA) July 1, 2024
The MK Party shares the same sentiments, insisting that the ANC can only survive if it works with the left-wing parties.
“What we are saying is come a time very shortly we are going to continue to push and hold them accountable for implementation and delivery. But they won’t be able to do that because they will be arguing on policy so who’s going to win? Us as the incoming government.” MK spokesperson, Nhlamulo Ndhlela, said.
“And the only way to ensure that we get our country back is for the ANC to wake up from their slumber on the back of this right-wing alliance that they have now put themselves in and start working with progressive parties like the MK and the EFF but without Cyril Ramaphosa,” Ndhlela added.
Political pundits say these former political rivals, working together in the GNU, is just a political re-alignment and believe the EFF, MK, and ActionSA will form formidable opposition.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
