PARLIAMENT: we explore legislative developments in the National Assembly under a government of national unity (GNU)

the gnu (another name for wildebeest) in a parliamentary chamber, standing next to a table piled with Bills

Under a government of national unity (GNU), the number of Bills tabled in and passed by the National Assembly has decreased dramatically. In fact, since July 2024 the only legislation passed by that House and referred to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for concurrence has been:

• amending legislation tabled with the 2024/25 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement during Parliament’s fourth term for 2024, and

• Bills tabled with the 2025/26 first and revised Budget in March and May 2025 respectively.

This is noting that two pieces of proposed new legislation introduced with the March 2025 Budget were withdrawn and replaced following National Treasury’s decision to reverse the value added tax increase.

The minutes of National Assembly sessions at which each of these Bills was passed clearly demonstrate that GNU members voted in unison on each piece of legislation concerned – with dissenting voices coming from among non-GNU members. The same pattern is reflected in the committee report tabled with each Bill for its second reading in the House.

(The minutes of National Assembly sessions can be found here, and committee reports tabled in the House here.

Turning to non-Budget-related Bills, at this juncture we draw a distinction between proposed new legislation tabled by:

• a Cabinet member (having been developed by a national government department, subjected to various rigorous internal processes and having undergone a socio-economic impact assessment before being submitted to Cabinet for pre-tabling approval), and

• an ordinary MP who is not a Cabinet member (having been developed by the political party concerned, and therefore not having been subjected to the same rigorous processes and not requiring Cabinet scrutiny and approval before being introduced).

With that in mind, of the 32 Bills tabled since the GNU’s formation:

• 23 were introduced by a member of Cabinet, of which:

  • only six deal with non-Budget-related matters

  • one was developed by a committee to correct a technical error in legislation already passed by Parliament, and

  • two were developed by national departments now under GNU ministers who are not ANC

• eight were introduced by MPs who are not Cabinet members, of which

  • five were developed by DA MPs, and

  • two were developed by MPs from a non-GNU party, of which:

    • two came from the Economic Freedom Fighters/(EFF), and

    • one came from ActionSA.

Non-Budget-related Bills tabled since the formation of a GNU are listed below in chronological order:

• in September 2024, a One-Stop Border Post Bill was tabled by Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber (DA) (providing for agreements with neighbouring countries on establishing mutually controlled cross-border areas, and having been released in draft form for public comment during the pre-GNU sixth administration)

• in November 2024 a Constitution 21^st Amendment Bill was tabled by Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Glynnis Breytenbach (with the intention of establishing an Anti-Corruption Commission as a new Constitution Chapter 9 institution to support and strengthen constitutional democracy)

• in February 2025, a Constitution 19^th Amendment Bill was tabled by the DA’s George Michalakis (with the intention of reducing the frequency of motions of no confidence in a president or provincial premier)

• in February 2025, a Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Bill was tabled by the DA’s George Michalakis (with the intention of addressing issues undermining the potential for ‘workable coalitions’ at local government level)

• in March 2025, Justice & Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi (ANC) tabled a Judicial Matters Amendment Bill (intended to address ‘practical and technical issues of a non-contentious nature’)

• in March 2025, a Local Government: Municipal Structures 2^nd Amendment Bill was tabled by the DA’s George Michalakis (with the intention of curbing the abuse of ‘kingmaker’ practices by providing for an electoral threshold when calculating the allocation of seats in municipal councils)

• in April 2025, Co-operative Governance & Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa (Inkatha Freedom Party/IFP) tabled an Intergovernmental Monitoring, Support & Interventions Bill (intended to regulate interventions at provincial and local government levels when constitutional obligations are not being met)

• in April 2025, Water & Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina (ANC) tabled a South African National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency SOC Limited Amendment Bill (intended to address 1999 Public Finance Management Act listing requirements)

• in May 2025, the National Assembly’s Transport Committee tabled an Economic Regulation of Transport Amendment Bill (to correct technical errors in a schedule to the Act)

• in July 2025, Justice & Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi (ANC) tabled an International Co-operation in Criminal Matters Amendment Bill (intended to meet South Africa’s international obligations regarding evidence sharing, sentencing and the confiscation/transfer proceeds from criminal activities), and

• in August 2025, Justice & Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi (ANC) tabled a General (Family) Laws Amendment Bill (intended to give effect to Constitutional Court rulings on property redistribution upon termination of a marriage out of community of property).

The only potentially contentious Bills introduced since the GNU was formed and tabled by a GNU member party have come from ordinary DA MPs who chose to circumvent the Cabinet approval process. It is not clear why, especially because not one piece of legislation tabled by a DA MP since 2013 (when the party introduced its first Bill) has ever passed the routine committee desirability test to which every Bill is subjected. Only Bills passing that test are processed.