DURBAN - WITH smaller parties in eThekwini Municipality resisting the advances of the ANC for a coalition government, the ruling party’s bid to regain control in KwaZulu-Natal’s only metro hangs in the balance.
The party could also fail to retain control of the uMhlathuze Local municipality which was also a hung municipality.
ACDP leader Reverend Kenneth Meshoe said they had no appetite to work with the ANC because of the ruling party’s association with fraud and corruption.
He said the recent abstinence from voting by ruling party members and supporters was a signal that they did not want the ANC in power.
“If we enter into a coalition with the ANC, we would be acting against our principles and commitment to good and clean governance. The move would amount to saving the Titanic, the ANC is a sinking ship, let them sink, and let the people have representatives committed to serving the people,” Meshoe said.
ActionSA spokesperson Lerato Ngobeni reiterated the party’s stance of not working with the ruling party, while Abantu Batho Congress leader Philani Mavundla indicated that no agreement had been reached.
ANC KZN spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said while the provincial leadership held a meeting on Monday, the outcome of coalition discussions had not yet been reached.
In addition to this the party was still continuing with interviews for mayors, deputy mayors and speaker candidates. He indicated that the decision was likely to emerge and be announced after the party’s National Executive Committee meeting which had now been moved to Friday.
The ANC’s grip in the 67-seat uMhlathuze Local Municipality is under threat because the ANC won 27 seats, followed by the IFP with 23 and the DA on 8 seats.
With the EFF leader Julius Malema having announced yesterday that the coalition talks with the ANC had concluded with no agreement being reached, the ruling party faces the prospect of being out of power in KZN’s strategically located municipalities.
DA representative in uMhlathuze Christo Botha expressed optimism that the coalition discussions would yield results. “We are in discussions with other parties and there is no clear outcome as yet but the results should be known very soon.”
Earlier, IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa had indicated that discussions were ongoing. IFP leaders were locked in a day-long National Executive Committee meeting in which it is believed coalition arrangements at various municipalities were discussed.
Meanwhile, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs said it had noted the changes of dates that were initially set for convening of the first council sittings in the province’s municipalities, but said that the 14-day legislated period had not elapsed in any of the municipalities.
“The 2021 local government elections were unique in that in a number of municipalities none of the political parties were able to secure an outright majority of votes. This has resulted in 18 of the municipalities in the province being ‘hung’.
“An unintended consequence of this is a need for engagements and agreements between different political parties. This is a clear indication of the level to which democracy is maturing in our country,” the statement said.
The department said municipalities should ensure that they convene their first sittings before November 24 and the district municipalities will have until December 8 to convene.
THE MERCURY