Battle of the GNU: DA says it has better communication strategy and ANC ministers must step up
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said Home Affairs Minister, Dr Leon Schreiber had no intention to scoop the Presidency in announcing the signing of the “historic” agreement between South African and Ukraine.
The agreement grants visa free access to South Africa for holders of Ukrainian diplomatic, official and service passports and vice versa.
The matter has become a major discussion agenda in South Africa after Schreiber announced the deal on his social media account, which sparked a reaction from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, who implied that Schreiber was jumping the gun.
The DA quickly backed Schreiber, insisting that what the minister revealed in his X post had been publicised already.
However, in an interview with broadcaster Newzroom Afrika, DA Member of Parliament, Ryan Smith, who is also the party’s deputy spokesperson for international relations and cooperation, said the current mechanisms of communications on the African National Congress (ANC) part in the Government of National Unity (GNU) have been exposed as inefficient.
“We must face the facts that the Democratic Alliance is certainly a much better political communicator than the ANC, and I think the ANC ministers could learn a few lessons from the DA ministers in the Cabinet. We, as an opposition had to fine-tune and master our communication strategy and that has been crucial in aiding in our electoral gains and communicating with our voters,” said Smith.
“I think the complacency perhaps of the ANC has taken on, with 30 years of being the majority, has affected their communication strategy. So, we do not have a strategy to undermine ANC ministers or the ANC in the GNU. But they really need to pull up their socks and get on with the programme,” he said.
“It’s really important for government to communicate effectively and consistently with the citizens and we take that commitment very seriously as the DA so if there is a good development that is particularly useful for job creation, for economic development which is the key strategy around the GNU, to really get South Africa back up and running, we want to communicate that,” he said.
Smith added that the DA’s relentless communications seek to show South Africans that the Democratic Alliance ministers are working, and to increase interest in the GNU.
“We want citizens to be excited about the GNU, we want them to really feel like their ministers are working and not sitting in an office earning a tax-payer funded salary for not doing very much,” he said.
On the other hand, Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for the Minister of International Relations Ronald Lamola, told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika that protocol dictates that such announcements would be made by officials after the President has signed any deal on behalf of the nation.
“I think we are dealing with a bit of breakdown in a bit of protocol because ordinarily an agreement gets announced once the president has signed a presidential minute, then it is official that we now have an agreement,” Phiri told the news channel.
“But in the background you can imagine, building up to getting that presidential minute there will be a lot of going to and from between the specialist department, Dirco and the counterparts in another country to ensure that we agree on the text, and everything is in order.”
Phiri said once all of those boxes are ticked, everything is then presented to the president for approval and his signature.
“Then we can officially say South Africa has entered into an agreement with country X on a particular issue, and in this case, it is the diplomatic visa waiver agreement. Normally, what happens is, we would announce it as ‘South Africa has’ – it would not be an individual minister taking credit for a particular development on the government process,” said Phiri.
The Dirco spokesperson agreed with the stance taken by Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya who called out Schreiber for the announcement on X.
Schreiber wrote on Sunday evening: “I am honoured to announce that, in my capacity as Minister of Home Affairs representing the Republic of South Africa, I have signed an historic agreement granting visa free access to our country for Ukrainian holders of diplomatic, official and service passports - and vice versa.”
He added: “We continue to see Ukraine as a valued ally, as a valued friend, who supported us right from the beginning, from the days of our struggle against apartheid, right through to now.
“I look forward to President (Cyril) Ramaphosa adding his signature to this agreement in the coming week, so that we can conclude this important step forward for relations between our two peace-loving nations,” Schreiber posted, adding the flags of South Africa and Ukraine on his post.
The minister’s post has attracted thousands of comments, with many questioning the move – just days after Ramaphosa was in Russia for the 16th BRICS Summit hosted by President Vladimir Putin.
Apart from attending the Russia-held summit, Ramaphosa also held a closed-door bilateral meeting with Putin.
South Africa and Russia have deep historical ties dating back to the fight against apartheid rule in South Africa.
As the flurry of comments swelled on Schreiber’s post, one of the reactions was from Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Magwenya who questioned the minister’s actions.
“The president (Ramaphosa) is yet to sign the minute authorising the minister to sign the agreement with Ukraine. It is unclear how the minister can announce signature of an international agreement without prior formal authorisation to do so,” said Magwenya in response to Schreiber.
Meanwhile, IOL reported on Monday that ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has weighed in on the debacle, insisting that Ramaphosa will not agree to the signing of the visa-free access deal between South Africa and Ukraine.
IOL