Less than six months into Jacob Zuma's presidency and already the cracks are showing in the ANC-led alliance, which include the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party (SACP).

Events at the recent Cosatu congress indicated that the relationship between the alliance partners is beginning to take strain, as Cosatu no doubt realises that the ANC government will be unable to deliver on many of the promises made to them over the past year and especially during the election.

The strikes of the past few months, including the one by soldiers that turned violent at the Union Buildings, have also contributed to the tensions.

But has there ever been a situation where a ruling party has been able to deliver to its trade union allies?

A few months ago I spoke to a friend from the UK who has been very active in the trade union movement there and he commented that it is virtually impossible for a governing party to appease its trade union allies. He said that he has seen this over and over again with the tensions between the British Labour Party and its allies.

The reason for this is simple: once the party comes into power they realise the immensity of their task, which is to deliver services to ALL the people in the country and not just to union members. So, when they do the sums, they realise that things like access to health for all or access to proper education for all or proper houses for all are probably unrealistic.

While they remain noble ideals, they are incredibly difficult to deliver because there are limitations as to what you can do with limited resources.

I am sympathetic to Cosatu and their demands, but I feel that, no matter how hard they huff and puff they will not have much impact on the ANC government. The simple reality is that, no matter how much the ANC as a party would want to concede to all Cosatu's demands, as a government they will not be able to.

Even the ANC as a political party could be frustrated by their representatives in government who are not able to deliver to a populist agenda. However, they and Cosatu need to realise that, once you become a government, you are accountable to all the people and not just the people who are members of your party. And government resources have to go towards meeting the needs of all the people and not just members of your party, which is a  near impossible task.

(Ryland Fisher, a former Editor of the Cape Times, is Executive Chairperson of the Cape Town Festival, a communications consultant and author of the book, Race.)