Former President Thabo Mbeki has launched a scathing attack on DA leader John Steenhuisen, accusing him of abandoning his party’s principles by joining South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU). In a fiery open letter, Mbeki denounced the coalition as a “fragile, hollow deal” lacking vision and integrity.
The bombshell letter comes weeks after the 2025 elections forced rival parties—including the ANC, DA, and IFP—into an uneasy power-sharing agreement. Mbeki minced no words, calling the GNU an “ideologically incoherent mess” crafted for political survival rather than national service. His blunt message to Steenhuisen: “You should have walked away.”
While Steenhuisen defended the DA’s participation as necessary for economic stability, his tepid response has raised eyebrows. Political analysts suggest Mbeki’s intervention exposes growing tensions within the coalition.
“This isn’t governance—it’s a time bomb,” said political analyst Judith February, echoing Mbeki’s warning that the GNU risks eroding the DA’s credibility.
Public reaction has been polarized, with some praising Mbeki’s candor and others questioning his timing. As the debate intensifies, one thing is clear: South Africa’s fragile unity government now faces its most formidable critic yet—a former president with nothing left to lose.
The question now is whether Steenhuisen’s gamble will stabilize the nation or, as Mbeki predicts, unravel decades of opposition integrity. With the GNU’s future hanging in the balance, all eyes are on Parliament’s next move.