‘Investors confident ANC will prevail’
Godongwana blows hot and cold over serving another term as finance minister
● Finance minister Enoch Godongwana says investors are confident the ANC will remain in power after the May 29 election.
Though some pundits have predicted the demise of the ANC, Godongwana said investors are not overly concerned about big policy shifts after the poll. They believe, he said this week, that the ANC will remain the biggest political party in South Africa even if it dips below 50%.
Godongwana said investors understood that even if the ANC does not get an outright majority, it will be an integral part of any coalition government.
“People in every jurisdiction would be worried about a policy change, particularly if new parties with new track records are going to come in — investors would be jittery about that. I suspect that investors know that the ANC would emerge the biggest party after the elections,” he said.
“Our understanding is that the ANC would still be the biggest party after the elections and no-one would be able to form a government without us. The policy trajectory of the ANC will continue.”
Godongwana was speaking to the Sunday Times as the ANC and other parties were submitting their lists of representatives to parliament, from which the president, deputy president and ministers will be chosen. He is number 62 on the ANC list and is almost guaranteed a seat in the National Assembly, despite rumours over his health in the government and the ANC, with some suggesting that President Cyril Ramaphosa will have to choose a new finance minister.
Godongwana dismissed concerns about his health, saying he was fit and well. However, he revealed that he had undergone a heart operation before the budget presentation in 2022. “I had some heart problems and in February 2022 I had an operation which included putting in a pacemaker,” he said.
He insisted that he had not experienced any health scares since then. But he was reluctant to indicate whether he wanted another term as finance minister.
“I can’t answer that question. What I can tell you is I’m on the list of the ANC to parliament, at number 62. As to whether I’ll be a minister, that’s the determination of the president at the time,” he said.
Godongwana would also not be drawn on which coalition partner he would prefer between the DA and the EFF. But should the ANC find itself entering into a coalition, the decision on a partner would be guided by principles and policies, he said.
He would not comment on suggestions that a grand coalition between the ANC and the DA could be best for the country. “I’m not allowed to answer that question. [ANC secretary-general Fikile] Mbalula would expel me. I’ll be defying the position of the movement,” he said. Godongwana pointed to problems with coalitions in municipalities, saying “there is no appreciation of a collective responsibility by the parties. In any coalition government you are bound by a constitutional arrangement that government has got a collective responsibility, that’s a first point.” “The second point is stability. There must be a commitment by the parties, particularly in municipalities, to stable governance, unlike what we see every six months when there’s a change in the mayor.” A coalition with either the DA or the EFF would mean the ANC might have to compromise its policy positions. The DA has made it clear that it intends to scrap BEE and preferential procurement, while the EFF wants to nationalise the Reserve Bank and the mines. Godongwana said the ANC’s “Ready to Govern” document, adopted in 1992, stated that the party would investigate whether to make major policy shifts.
He added that the party was not entirely against the nationalisation of the mines and banks, but it would have to consider such moves very carefully.