President Nelson Mandela also invited other parties to join the cabinet, even though they did not obtain the minimum twenty seats in the National Assembly.

The aims of the GNU centred on governing by consensus and building peace while correcting the social and economic injustices left by the legacy of apartheid.

[4] It also oversaw the development of the final post-apartheid Constitution, which was carried out by the two chambers of parliament, the Senate and National Assembly.

De Klerk said that the withdrawal was related to the need for a strong opposition to the ANC and that it was an "important step in the growing maturity and normalization of our young democracy".

[12] Peter Mokaba replaced Bantu Holomisa as Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism in August 1996,[13] and Lionel Mtshali succeeded Ben Ngubane as Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology in September 1996 after Ngubane resigned to join the KwaZulu-Natal government.