Africa-Press – South-Africa. The biggest partners in the government of national unity (GNU), the ANC and the DA, are headed for another battle — this time over employment equity.
This comes as the DA is in court on Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of section 15a of the Employment Equity Amendment Act which seeks to introduce numerical targets for the representation of black people, women and people with disabilities in companies with more than 50 employees.
The DA argues that the law would further drive unemployment and hinder job growth. It said it wants everyone to have fair access to jobs based on merit and not because of the colour of their skin.
The ANC said the DA is anti-transformational as the act was meant to redress past injustices.
“The regressive action is not only an affront to the constitution but a direct assault on the very foundation of SA’s transformation journey,” the ANC said on Tuesday. “We must remind the DA and its allies that SA’s constitution explicitly recognises the need to redress past injustices and to achieve substantive equality.”
This is another battle the ANC and DA are engaging in after weeks of impasse over the budget and the proposal for a VAT increase.
Before this, the two GNU partners were in a fight over legislations passed by the sixth administration, including the Bela Act, National Health Insurance and the Expropriation Act.
The fractured relationship between the ANC and the DA has seen growing calls for the latter to be axed from the multiparty union that governs the country. It is believed most ANC national executive committee (NEC) members who were previously in support of a GNU that included the DA are agitating for its removal.
This is said to be the reason behind the last-minute cancellation of the NEC meeting last month, which was scheduled to discuss the future of the GNU.
Some NEC members are believed to have had it with the DA, saying they were behaving like the opposition while in government. They are said to be agitating for the DA to be replaced with ActionSA, the EFF and MK Party (MKP).
ActionSA seems likely to join the GNU after convincing the finance minister to withdraw the proposed VAT hike. The inclusion of the EFF and MKP is up for debate as there are fears in some quarters that the two parties would ignite the process for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s removal.
Some in the DA have also argued for the party to exit the GNU, especially after the passing of the contested bills, saying it appears they are not making the necessary impact in the coalition. They accused the ANC of not being willing to share power and said it was behaving as if it enjoyed a majority to continue to govern on its own.
The DA appears to not have the appetite to jump ship, however, and is waiting to see if the ANC will push it out of the GNU.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
