Opposition parties announced on Monday that they would hold a national convention as they aimed to unseat the ANC from power in the 2024 elections.
The seven parties said in a joint statement, that the 2024 elections presented an unprecedented opportunity for the people of South Africa to elect a new government.
“For the very first time since 1994, the incumbent governing party is set to lose its majority when voters go to the polls next year,” said the parties.
The parties - the DA, IFP, Freedom Front Plus, ActionSA, the NFP, the United Independent Movement and the Spectrum National Party – said the prospect of a change in government next year was “cause for optimism”.
“It also places a profound responsibility on the shoulders of opposition parties that want to take South Africa into a fundamentally better direction.
“As the leaders of seven different political organisations, this is a responsibility we take seriously,” they said.
They said they knew that citizens were anxious about the future and they wanted certainty that the new national government that replaced the ANC would be stable, viable and effective.
“Above all, they want opposition parties to provide a viable path to achieving the 50% plus one majority we need to form a government without the ANC, the EFF and their proxies that can deliver a prosperous future for all South Africans.”
The opposition parties said they have held a series of exploratory meetings over the past two months to lay the foundation for a national convention to negotiate a pre-election pact.
“We are proud to report today that, through good faith and thorough engagement, party leaders have established sufficient common ground for this National Convention to take place on August 16 and 17.”
The planned national convention will be held at Emperor’s Palace in Kempton Park, the same venue where the Convention for a Democratic South Africa negotiations took place in the 90s.
“It is therefore fitting that we use this venue to host another historic first, where opposition party leaders will get together around one table to work out a common vision for a new government,” the parties said in their joint statement.
According to the parties, their leaders have agreed on an agenda that would guide negotiations.
These included the values and principles that would guide a pact government, the formulation of a joint minimum programme of action, rules of engagement during the upcoming election campaign and a formula to form a Cabinet after the 2024 election.
However, they said there were no predetermined outcomes and negotiations at the convention would be robust, honest and constructive.
“While there is still much work to be done, the people of South Africa can take great heart from the knowledge that, for the first time ever, opposition leaders are working in unison to provide hope and a new way forward for the country we all love.”
The planned convention would take place as Deputy President Paul Mashatile said in May there was a need to convene a national dialogue on coalitions and look at dysfunctional municipalities in the absence of a framework guiding coalitions.
A meeting, in preparation for the indaba to be held on July 27, was held last Friday but some opposition parties raised concerns about how the legal framework for coalitions could benefit the ANC and DA.
Cape Times