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Coalition partners say ... Hug thine enemy

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Julius Malema and Mmusi Maimane shake hands in Parliament. Picture: Elmond Jiyane/File
Julius Malema and Mmusi Maimane shake hands in Parliament. Picture: Elmond Jiyane/File

Cooperative governance at all costs is what the DA-led coalition is striving for, having seen the ANC’s factional disputes play a significant part in alienating that party’s voters

Only kissing and hugging will be the accepted interaction in public among councillors belonging to the DA-led opposition coalition that this week took over government in at least two of the country’s key metros.

According to a draft copy of the coalition agreement, signed this week by the DA, the United Democratic Movement (UDM), Freedom Front Plus, Congress of the People (Cope) and the African Christian Democratic Party, those who disagree or attack each other or their parties in public will face censure.

Even hostile discussions on social media such as Facebook and Twitter are off the table, according to the document.

A dispute resolution mechanism – consisting of the parties’ provincial leader or a nominee, and one additional member from each party – will be established to provide safer space for disagreements on policy or any other matter.

The dispute body has, at most, seven days to resolve any matter before a decision is reached by “consensus”.

Should this fail, the matter will be referred to the parties’ national leaders for appropriate intervention.

Other conditions of the agreement include the following:

  • Special measures have been put in place to improve cooperation and mutual trust. Decisions on matters relating to the administration of councils will be based on consensus.
  • The agenda of the council or committees will be made available to partners at least two weeks before a meeting. No new matter or amendment will be entertained once consensus is established.
  • Partners will be adequately notified of any matter that any party intended to raise in a council or committee meeting, “except for matters of strict exigency”. Additional information will be made available to allow the other party or parties time to arrive at an informed decision.
  • The party leaders in each council will become part of a so-called Political Management Committee, which will meet five days before every plenary meeting of the council as well as at the request of any of the parties.
  • Where the management committee meets at the request of any party, it will convene within three days of the request being made and be assisted with secretarial services by one or more qualified municipal officials.
  • Should consensus not be reached, the matter will be withdrawn from the agenda and the issue will be escalated to the dispute resolution mechanism.

Party leaders will have to manoeuvre carefully and ensure that they do not interfere in the day-to-day workings of the council coalitions.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane has highlighted this issue as being crucial for coalitions to function properly.

“We all agree that it is not the party leaders that must run municipalities, it is the mayors.

“I do not expect to be sitting down with Terror [Cope head Mosiuoa Lekota] or Bantu [UDM leader Bantu Holomisa] to discuss where we are going to put pipes – otherwise we violate another principle, which is the separation of party and state.”

Holomisa has said there will be close communication with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which delivered many votes to the coalition but chose to remain outside of government.

“This will give the EFF a chance to pinpoint areas of concern or give direction on areas they think we should focus on,” he has said, adding that the EFF will keep the coalition government in check.

“They will be carrying the sjambok,” is his concluding remark.

Nelson Mandela Bay

At the end of the political battle for Nelson Mandela Bay, it was the DA that won 2-0 against the ANC in a game of two halves.

In the first, the DA beat the ANC by 6 percentage points, and in the second, the ANC tried to get ahead by scrambling together a coalition of its own.

By the end of the game, the DA had scored its second goal by securing a coalition with the help of the United Democratic Movement (UDM), Congress of the People and the African Christian Democratic Party.

Athol Trollip was sworn in as the first DA mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, in effect giving a red card to ANC candidate, Danny Jordaan.

“We worked on the election campaign for more than a year. We were on the ground, visible every day,” Trollip said.

On Thursday evening, Trollip met acting city manager Johann Mettler for a full report on key issues. On Friday, he met executive directors and trade unions for introductions and to explain the type of government he envisages.

“My first objective is to implement our manifesto. Corruption stopped when I was sworn in. I made that very clear. We want to grow our economy. I have committed to creating 50 000 jobs for young people over the next five years. I need to relook at the budget and make sure we reprioritise.”

Nelson Mandela Bay ANC regional task team spokesperson Gift Ngqondi said ANC leaders would meet tomorrow to decide whether Jordaan would be the official leader of the opposition in council. “But all councillors, including Jordaan, will be part of the entourage of the ANC in council.

“Our mission as opposition will be to fight for people and to ensure their lives change for the better,” he said.

Ngqondi slammed Trollip’s suggestion that he intends to relook at the budget approved by the previous ANC-led council, saying it was pro-poor.

“We will ensure that priorities listed in the budget are actioned and implemented,” he said. – Lubabalo Ngcukana

Tshwane

The reality of losing the country’s capital was too hard to fathom for the ANC, which resorted to disruptive behaviour usually associated with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Parliament as new DA mayor Solly Msimanga was inaugurated.

It was a huge blow for the ANC, which stood no chance as the DA moved in earnest to secure support from small parties last week.

Already, Msimanga has a long to-do list, topped by sorting out the finances.

There was already talk that workers were being paid from an overdraft account, meaning Msimanga will be starting off in what he says is an “uncomfortable position”.

“I cannot get to delivering on anything if I cannot sort out the finances. I do believe we are in the red with a few billions, so I need to get the finances in order. How bad it is, is what we have to establish,” he said.

Redundant posts in the metro, where more than two people do the same job, will make it hard for the DA to avoid cutting back jobs.

The next few days will see Msimanga appoint his executive, who will be forced to sign performance agreements with specific deliverable targets.

Rustenburg

Overambitious DA councillors and a “power hungry” approach from the EFF were cited as key reasons the ANC retained control of Rustenburg, despite expectations that opposition parties would stick together.

The DA went into the first council meeting to elect the mayor and speaker on Friday, divided along township and suburb lines, each pushing for its own speaker candidate.

The township DA preferred Agnes Tsamai, while the suburban DA preferred Johannes Vosloo.

Provincial DA leader Pieter Groenewald said the discontent between “new activists from the township who had problems with some of our senior people” had been resolved. He said the party put neither candidate forward.

During a caucus meeting on Thursday, the EFF – which claimed it would play an opposition role – quashed the DA’s proposal and handed all key positions to independent candidates.

The DA’s loss sparked discontent in its ranks, which others cite as an explanation for the “mystery vote” the ANC gained from the opposition during Friday’s sitting.

ANC councillor Sheila Mabale-Huma got the speaker job with 46 votes to 43, suggesting that at least one “ambitious” councillor from the DA, UDM, Freedom Front Plus or EFF voted with the ANC. The African Independent Congress (AIC), which had one vote, had already agreed to side with the ANC, which needed only two votes to regain power.

The smaller Botho Community Movement (BCM) believed residents would benefit more from the ANC.

A senior EFF leader said opposition parties agreed to reveal their votes to each other as a “countermeasure”, but when that time came, a BCM councillor and a DA councillor refused.

City Press has that learnt the opposition fallout started on Thursday during a caucus meeting in which the EFF “dictated” council positions, including an insistence that Forum 4 Service Delivery get all key portfolios, including mayor, speaker, finance and infrastructure.

Ekurhuleni

The voting trends in Rustenburg on Friday showed that the ANC’s mayoral candidate in Ekurhuleni, Mzwandile Masina, could be elected when council sits on Tuesday.

The AIC delivered on its agreement with the ANC, and supported the ANC in the North West town. There had been uncertainty about the arrangement when council was postponed this week.

City Press has learnt that the AIC wanted the ANC to commit in writing that it would reincorporate Matatiele from the Eastern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal. But the initial written declaration by the ANC was found to be “vague” and sent back for corrections.

The Rustenburg vote confirmed that the coalition had been sealed, and Ekurhuleni was likely to follow a similar pattern.

The ANC needed four votes to govern in the metro and the AIC had four seats. 

Mogale City

The ANC pulled a few surprises against the opposition coalition at the inaugural sitting of Mogale City in Gauteng on Thursday, but the most important post, the mayoral seat, went to the DA’s Lynn Pannell.

Ahead of Pannell’s election, the ANC was upbeat when one of the coalition partners swayed the vote of council speaker by a majority of one (39 against 38) to the ANC candidate.

But the ANC’s Peace Mabe was not that lucky, losing to Pannell by the same margin.

The Inkatha Freedom Party’s sole councillor, City Press has heard, had split the party’s vote.

Johannesburg

DA mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba is expected to be sworn in despite the discomfort of the EFF, which set his removal as a precondition for its support when council sits tomorrow.

Insiders said the EFF would still vote for Mashaba after it had committed to vote with the DA-led coalition. The EFF, however, remains adamant that Johannesburg should be run by “a proper leader” with political experience.

It’s understood that while the DA may have publicly refused to oust Mashaba, the axe could still fall on him.

“Maimane’s ego is killing him because he doesn’t want to be seen to be taking advice from EFF,” said a coalition leader.

Maimane quickly assured Mashaba of his position when it emerged there were internal discussions about replacing him.

On Friday, Maimane said a decision to remove Mashaba would set a bad precedent, and “wouldn’t be a matter of EFF”, which is not a coalition partner.

“If you [replace him], the councillors in Port Elizabeth will say the process has been overridden and because you created a precedent, the same demands for the replacement of mayors will be made in other councils,” he said.

Among those trying to convince the DA is UDM leader Bantu Holomisa, who is understood to support his replacement with someone more politically astute.

The names of Khume Ramulifho and Mashaba’s runner-up, Wits Professor Rabelani Dagada, have come up as potential replacements.

There were rumours of the DA finding itself in a catch-22 because Mashaba helped to fund the campaign. Maimane brushed off questions about Mashaba’s political inexperience.

“One of the most successful mayors in the international arena is [New York Mayor Michael] Bloomberg and he didn’t come through the ordinary school of politics, he came through business. So, you can’t say there is a correlation between having political clout and being a good mayor,” he said.

It’s understood that Dagada could become Mashaba’s deputy.

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