Amid frosty GNU relations, scheduled Cabinet meeting postponed

JOHANNESBURG - As the African National Congress (ANC) calls for a reset on frosty Government of National Unity (GNU) relations, a scheduled Cabinet meeting has been called off, for now.

But the Cabinet office insists there’s nothing untoward and it's just a simple scheduling issue.

Thursday’s meeting was due to be the last one before recess.

It would have, in all likelihood, been a tense gathering, following the deadlock between the Democratic Alliance (DA), Freedom Front Plus and all their other GNU partners.

READ: Steenhuisen believes DA's future in GNU has become a political pawn in 'internal ANC factional battles'

An alert to different departments postponing Thursday’s Cabinet meeting has been met with some suspicion due to the current happenings in the GNU, with some members of Cabinet suggesting the ANC, which has resolved to revisit its coalition negotiations, might not be willing to sit in a room with its colleagues, who also happen to be political opponents, the very same people who are refusing to back ANC-appointed Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s budget.

However, the Cabinet office and the Presidency have dismissed the conspiracies, with the latter saying postponements were not anomalies.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, in further rubbishing the claims, said DA members in government were working.

Magwenya added that Cabinet meetings were not the sole indicator of ministers' relevance in government.