What happened this week
DA Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille publicly criticised the policy direction of several ANC-led cabinet departments in the first week of April, stating that the governing party was reverting to positions inconsistent with the spirit of the GNU agreement. The specific departments named in her criticism were not confirmed in official statements, but reporting by EBNewsDaily indicated that disagreements centred on economic regulation, land policy, and the pace of state-owned enterprise reform.
President Cyril Ramaphosa convened an emergency meeting of the GNU leadership council in response. Sources within the Presidency described the meeting as productive, while declining to specify what commitments were made.
Why it matters
The GNU is the first coalition government in South Africa’s post-apartheid history to require sustained cooperation between the ANC and a party with fundamentally different economic and social policy positions. The agreement has enabled a functioning parliament and a degree of macro-fiscal discipline, but it requires both major parties to suppress significant internal pressure from their respective bases. Local government elections scheduled between November 2026 and February 2027 create incentives for both the ANC and DA to differentiate their brands — which pulls against coalition unity.
The ANC’s position
The ANC has consistently maintained that the GNU is working as intended and that policy differences are managed through established cabinet and council processes. Party officials have rejected characterisations of the coalition as unstable, pointing to the passage of the 2026 budget and sustained engagement on infrastructure reform under Operation Vulindlela as evidence of functional governance.
The DA’s position
The DA argues that it entered the GNU to prevent the ANC from governing with MK Party support, which the DA viewed as a greater threat to constitutional democracy. The party has been increasingly vocal about specific policy grievances as local elections approach, using GNU tensions to demonstrate to its voters that it is holding the ANC accountable from within the coalition rather than acquiescing to it.
What the evidence shows
The GNU has produced concrete policy outcomes: the 2026 budget received broad support, Eskom’s grid stability milestone was achieved under the coalition’s watch, and the investment conference attracted significant pledges. At the same time, the structural gap between the ANC’s preference for state-led economic intervention and the DA’s emphasis on market mechanisms and fiscal restraint is genuine, not merely rhetorical.
Political analysts quoted by Daily Maverick in February noted that the local elections represent the first major electoral test of whether GNU governance wins or costs either party votes. The results will significantly shape the durability of the coalition.
What happens next
Local government elections are scheduled between 2 November 2026 and 1 February 2027. The IEC completed voter registration updates in early April. Pre-election polling shows the DA leading national preference surveys for the first time in South Africa’s electoral history, while the MK Party is contesting metro councils in Gauteng for the first time. The ANC and DA will need to sustain cooperation through an electoral period in which they are simultaneously competing.