South Africa is not a banana republic; neither does it belong to politicians to toss around as they wish.
And the ANC, with its diminishing majority, does not have the right to determine on its own which direction the country should take.
So, for ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula to say the Government of National Unity (GNU) is not a permanent arrangement, and will change over time, smacks of the same arrogance that has resulted in his party losing votes in the first place.
Recently, the SACP criticised its tripartite alliance partner, the ANC, for getting into bed with organisations at odds with its ideologies, as if the former sole governing party had a choice.
In response, Mbalula said this arrangement was forced on the party by the electoral results. But as one of the pioneers of the GNU, he has a duty to convince us that everything will be well.
Very few had a good word about the GNU when it was formed after the polls in May. However, as time went by, it was accepted as the government of the day.
The likes of Mbalula therefore cannot go around describing the government as a “tactical intervention, and not permanent which can change at some point and become something else”.
The only acceptable change, Comrade SG, will be at the next general election if and when one political party wins an outright majority, not halfway through the seventh democratic government term.
We cannot have a country run like the circus that has been seen in Joburg and Ekurhuleni and soon Tshwane, where politicians change loyalties for fun, depending on their moods and the day of the week.
The modern-day ANC leaders such as Mbalula and party leader President Cyril Ramaphosa should carry the blame for the demise of the former liberation movement.
They cannot, and should not, sell the country to the highest bidder for the sake of remaining in power.
Cape Times