Media Statements

Today, the African National Congress (ANC) negotiating team led by Secretary General, Comrade Fikile Mbalula, held a constructive engagement with the leadership of the Democratic Alliance (DA) as part of ongoing efforts to break the current budget impasse and the reconfiguration of the Government of National Unity (GNU).

The meeting forms part of the ANC’s unwavering commitment to the principles of dialogue, nation-building, and collective leadership in addressing the urgent socio-economic needs of our people. At the centre of these engagements is the future of our country – South Africa – and the responsibility we all carry to ensure it remains united, stable, and focused on development.

The ANC reaffirms its position as the leader of society, guided by the historic mandate it has received to transform South Africa into a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, and prosperous nation for all who live in it. In all negotiations, the ANC remains rooted in its values and resolutions, and will not compromise on the fundamental goals of social and economic justice, equity, and transformation.

The ANC entered the GNU process with clear intentions: to build a broad-based consensus on rebuilding the country, accelerating service delivery, creating jobs, and tackling inequality. These goals are not negotiable.

South Africa must come first. As leaders, we owe it to the people of this country—black and white, young and old— to rise above narrow political interests and work together in the spirit of unity and shared progress. The ANC will continue to engage all GNU partners, civil society, and other stakeholders in pursuit of a stable, inclusive, and effective government that places the interests of South Africans at the heart of all its decisions.

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