Pretoria: Deputy President Paul Mashatile, acting as Chairperson of the Government of National Unity (GNU) Clearing House Mechanism, convened a virtual meeting where the terms of reference (TOR) were officially adopted. This mechanism, set up by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2024, aims to address policy disagreements within the 10-member GNU, with Mashatile at the helm.
According to South African Government News Agency, the Deputy President’s Office confirmed that the Working Group had finalized the draft TOR. Originally presented in October 2024, the draft faced some disagreements, prompting the Secretariat to seek the expertise of constitutional law specialist, Professor Jaap de Visser, for legal refinement.
The key points of contention centered around deadlock-breaking mechanisms and specific clauses from the GNU statement of intent, particularly clauses 18 and 19.3. A Working Group, chaired by Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Andries Nel and comprising representatives from the Democratic Alliance, Rise Mzansi, and the Pan Africanist Congress, was tasked with addressing these issues.
The Working Group received submissions on the draft TOR from party representatives and was given two weeks to finalize its work and report back to the GNU Clearing House Mechanism. They proposed initiatives such as creating a dispute resolution process flow diagram to clarify the GNU Clearing House Mechanism’s decision-making process.
It was emphasized that the Clearing House Mechanism acts as a recommending body rather than a decision-making entity, with monthly meetings proposed. The group suggested unresolved issues be referred to the Political Leaders Forum instead of directly to the President. Additionally, the group supported a resolution to ‘agree to disagree’ when consensus fails.
The GNU Clearing House Mechanism underscored that the statement of intent forms the foundation of its work and agreed that sufficient consensus applies only to decision-making bodies – the GNU and Political Leaders Forum, not the Clearing House. They also concurred on referral procedures and the exclusion of provincial or local government matters.
The mechanism recognized the efforts of the Working Group and the Secretariat, agreeing that the adopted TOR be presented to the Political Leaders’ Forum for ratification. Future concerns should be addressed through amendments, acknowledging that the adopted document is now a “living document.”