- The first sitting of Parliament to elect the president and National Assembly Speaker will take place on Friday.
- Chief Justice Raymond Zondo announced the date on Monday afternoon.
- Sources close to negotiations revealed that an ANC-DA-IFP coalition could see IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa become the second deputy president.
IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa is tipped to take his seat as second deputy president in the West Wing of the Union Buildings once the seventh administration takes shape under a government of national unity (GNU).
According to several sources close to negotiations, the ANC is strongly leaning towards a GNU with the DA and the IFP, which will see whoever is elected as president reconfigure the makeup of the executive Cabinet to include a second deputy president.
Speculation is rife that Hlabisa could serve alongside Paul Mashatile as deputy president.
The National Assembly Speaker’s position, which the DA could likely take on, is also being debated in the talks.
It would not be the first time that a president would have two deputies. In 1994, former president FW de Klerk served alongside Thabo Mbeki as deputy president to the late Nelson Mandela.
On Monday afternoon, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo announced that the first sitting of Parliament would take place on Friday, 14 June. This means provincial legislatures will also have to sit on the same day.
The inauguration is expected to take place on 19 June.
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A source close to the arrangements for the first sitting, who asked not to be named, said: “This Friday, we will elect the president… National Assembly Speaker, and deputy speaker. But, later on, we might change the executive to have two deputy presidents, Paul Mashatile and Velenkosini Hlabisa, and then give the DA whatever they want.”
Zondo is expected to convene the first sitting.
According to his office, after the members of the National Assembly have been sworn in, or after the prescribed affirmation has been administered, Zondo will preside over the election of the Speaker of the National Assembly.
Once the Speaker has been elected, he or she will then preside over the election of the deputy speaker. Thereafter, Zondo will take over the election of the president.
News24 understands that the DA wants to play an oversight role and hold strategic ministerial positions in the GNU.
The insider added:
You know they are smart, they will want the economy, trade and industry, and other key positions. The ANC is strongly leaning toward a DA and IFP coalition.
The president of the seventh administration is expected to commemorate Youth Day on Sunday at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, in Polokwane, Limpopo.
News24 has also learnt that another possible reason why the dates were being discussed was to gauge whether Ramaphosa could attend the 50th G7 summit, to be held between 13-15 June in Fasano, Apulia, in Italy.
The source added: “The president was expected to travel to G7, and so it was important to know whether they will be attending and, given that it’s on the 14th, I do not think that he will go to the G7.”
Another senior ANC member, close to the negotiations, said the party was working to be “as accommodating as possible” of other parties.
“The president is an executive role. He can appoint one, two or three deputy presidents. The discussions are still taking place, and we are trying to be as accommodating as possible,” he said.
“De Klerk and Thabo Mbeki were deputy presidents at the time, we are also being as inclusive as possible, without compromising the ANC.”
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He said that, although modalities of the GNU were being discussed behind closed doors, no names had been discussed.
“We are also discussing principles, issues around names will be discussed after the appointment of the president,” he added.
Approached for comment on Monday, Hlabisa said he could not talk because he was in an NEC meeting, while IFP secretary-general Siphosethu Ngcobo referred News24 to national spokesperson Liezl van der Merwe, whose phone went to voicemail.
IFP treasurer-general Narend Singh said: “Nope, no… that is a rumour that you are getting from somewhere.”
When asked whether the IFP had placed this on the negotiation table, Singh again said: “Nope.”
However, a senior IFP member told News24: “It sounds about right; that’s all I can say.”
A source close to the ANC’s technical team, which is advising the negotiations team, said there were also plans to reduce the Cabinet to 24 or 26 members.
Teams working closely with the negotiation team are also looking at modalities and the framework around the matter.
Meanwhile, the DA’s Federal Council also met on Monday, in what insiders report was a tense meeting.
“We [the DA] are going to be outnumbered, either on numbers when we want to push back or when we want to advance certain things,” a source said, a reference to the party’s potentially weakened role in Parliament if they entered a coalition or GNU with the ANC.
It is understood that DA leader John Steenhuisen put up a strong argument for participation in government.
The meeting had to be extended due to logistics and travel arrangements and was set to continue on Tuesday.
News24 understands that reducing the number of Cabinet ministers could balance the scales, which favours the ANC.
“The plan is that, even if the DA is not in agreement with something, they, along with the smaller parties, might have a majority, even though the MK Party and EFF are not part of the deal because they [the ANC] will have 210, without the DA, MK Party and EFF, which still gives them the numbers,” he said.
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Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed to News24 that Ramaphosa was not attending the G7 meetings in Italy due to domestic priorities.
“Firstly, the president is not going to attend the G7 meetings in Italy. Secondly, there was never such a meeting. The swearing-in of MPs is the sole responsibility of the CJ [Chief Justice]. The president will not seek to interfere with the CJ’s constitutional mandate. So it’s a pure lie that the president met with the CJ last night or any other day regarding the swearing in of MPs,” he said.
“This rumour has been peddled since the weekend. The president had decided that he was not going to attend G7 meetings due to domestic priorities he had to attend to. The Reuters report that the president was going to the G7 was inaccurate, and I advised Business Day to correct the story because we had not issued a statement to that effect.”
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