Simon Majadibodu|Published
ANC Youth League president Collen Malatji has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove DA ministers from Cabinet, saying the EFF must “start warming up and behaving” if it wants to join the Government of National Unity (GNU).
Malatji made the call during a media briefing at Luthuli House in Johannesburg on Thursday, following tensions between the ANC and the DA over the ANC’s Constitutional Court bid to reinstate 181 candidates excluded from the ballot for the November 4 local government elections.
The Constitutional Court directed the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to include the candidates on the ballot papers.
Malatji calls for DA ministers to be removed from GNU
Malatji said the ANCYL had initially believed that working with South Africa’s second-largest political party would bring stability to the GNU.
“We thought in the beginning of the Youth League that working with the second-biggest political party in South Africa would create a bit of stability in the government of national unity,” he said.
“And you know, when we are wrong, you must say that we are wrong.”
ANCYL accuses DA of pursuing racist agenda
He accused the DA of creating instability within the GNU and pursuing what he described as a racist agenda.
“It has continued to serve its racist agenda, which they are funded for,” Malatji said.
He also renewed his criticism of Capitec Bank over political donations made to the DA by companies linked to the bank’s founder, Michiel Le Roux.
Malatji has previously called for a public boycott of Capitec, accusing the bank of being anti-black and opposed to broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE).
However, Le Roux has denied allegations that Capitec uses its funds to finance the DA. He has said that the donations were made by his other companies, Fynbos Ekwiteit and Fynbos Kapital, rather than the bank.
In 2022, the companies donated R15 million to the DA. The party’s August 2023 donation disclosure also recorded a further contribution from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, a German organisation.
Malatji suggests EFF could join the GNU
Malatji called on Ramaphosa to remove all DA ministers and reopen discussions with other political parties about the composition of the GNU.
“Now we are calling upon the GNU, the president (Cyril Ramaphosa), to immediately remove all ministers of the DA. And we are calling upon the president to reopen discussions with other political parties,” he said.
He suggested that the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) could be considered for inclusion in the GNU, provided its leadership demonstrated greater maturity.
“If they can warm up and behave, they can come and join the government of national unity,” Malatji said, adding that the EFF was “mainly led by childish people”.
He also criticised the DA’s leadership, questioning its political identity and accusing the party of undermining black leadership.
Malatji said the ANC was increasingly being challenged by communities over its decision to govern alongside the DA, which he described as a right-wing organisation.
“Now the call is very clear, there are concessions on it. That DA must be removed. And the president must appoint new ministers who believe in our democratic constitution,” he said.
ANC-DA tensions escalate over candidate nominations
His remarks come amid growing tensions between the ANC and the DA over the ANC’s legal challenge concerning the excluded local government election candidates.
On Thursday, IOL reported that DA spokesperson Karabo Khakhau had criticised ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula’s call for a review of the DA’s role in the GNU.
Khakhau accused the ANC of threatening its coalition partners rather than taking responsibility for failing to submit its candidate nominations on time.
“What Mbalula is saying sounds like a bitter husband who refuses to be held accountable and the minute you as a wife hold him accountable, he threatens divorce,” she said.
She argued that the ANC should acknowledge its failure to meet the nomination deadline and improve its internal processes instead of threatening to reconsider the DA’s participation in the GNU.
IOL Politics