Negotiations between the ANC and the DA are on the edge after President Cyril Ramaphosa altered, on Wednesday, the terms of an offer accepted by the DA on Tuesday.
Ramaphosa also replaced an important ministry with one that has almost no budget, has very little social or economic heft, and was never considered before.
The DA will now get six instead of seven Cabinet seats.
News24 reports that the ANC considers the offer as a ‘take it or leave it’ final chance for the DA, and that Ramaphosa will move ahead and announce his Cabinet as soon as possible.
Although Ramaphosa has retained his offer to the DA of the post of deputy minister of finance, deputy ministers are not part of Cabinet.
The DA is asking whether the ANC is negotiating in bad faith, and it is questioning the ANC’s sincerity in the offers being made. There is anger and frustration in the DA about the ANC’s lack of consistency, and doubts about whether it is possible to reach a binding agreement with the party.
Ramaphosa told DA leader John Steenhuisen that he had until Sunday to accept the offer.
Since the DA’s acceptance of the ANC’s offer which was then downgraded overnight, the relationship between the parties is now strained. Some in the DA believe this situation is indicative of the ANC’s unwillingness to share power.