DA, EFF want to 'knock ANC off governance pedestal' – analyst

Johannesburg – The EFF and the DA had a burning passion to "knock the ANC off its pedestal of governance", which is why a coalition between them would not be a surprise, the University of Pretoria’s Professor Tinyiko Maluleke said on Sunday.

A number of hung municipalities are expected to convene their first council meetings this week, including the cities of Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay and Johannesburg.

On Sunday, the City Press reported that a tentative deal had been struck between the EFF and the DA on possible coalition arrangements.

This included negotiations with the EFF on land and economic transformation, in which Cape Town mayor, Patricia de Lille, was involved.

Great incentive

Maluleke said he would not be surprised if reports of a partnership forged between the EFF and the DA were true.

“There is great incentive there; it has little to do with ideology or struggle partnerships because they both didn’t exist then but the two share a burning passion to knock the ANC off its pedestal of governance,” the academic said.

In Nelson Mandela Bay, the ANC expressed confidence it would be able to broker an agreement with the smaller political parties by Wednesday.

The party lost its majority in the area and need 11 seats to form a government, while the DA need four seats from opposition parties.

The council meeting had already been postponed once to accommodate coalition negotiations. The meeting was set for Monday, before it was moved to Thursday.

Sensitive stage

Analysts on Sunday said the sittings scheduled across the country for this week might not be able to conclude their business of selecting a mayor and speaker of council.

Analyst Ralph Mathekga said councils could fail to reach a quorum. “If there is no clarity on the way forward councillors might not arrive for the sitting. They need to go to council armed with a set of goals as mandated by the political principles,” he said.

Maluleke said the sitting this week could mean for every council taking place, the necessary coalition had already been formed otherwise very little of the business of the day would be conducted.

There are 27 hung municipalities following the elections.

Last week, the DA’s James Selfe said the DA would continue its negotiations in earnest with the clear objective of putting together governments that gave effect to the majority of the electorates’ rejection of the ANC and “its management of local government”.

Former ANC mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay, Danny Jordaan, said on Sunday coalition talks were at a sensitive stage, and would be completed soon.

This article first appeared on News24.