ANC Eastern Cape chairperson Oscar Mabuyane
Eastern Cape ANC chairperson Oscar Mabuyane has hinted at a possible coalition with the Democratic Alliance in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro after Monday’s local government elections failed to produce an outright winner.
During a special provincial executive committee (PEC) meeting of the governing party held on Thursday to discuss the election results, Mabuyane, who is also premier of the province, said the ANC must rise above party politics to lead the people of South Africa in light of the current quagmire of several hung municipalities.
He quoted former ANC president Oliver Tambo, who said that the “enemy is not necessarily doing everything wrongly. You may take his right tactics and use them to your advantage.”
“We need to be mindful of the fact that we are now compelled by circumstances to work hand in hand with our political and ideological opponents, mainly from the opposition benches. What that means, therefore, is that we must set parameters upon which these coalitions will be built. Of critical importance are the points or areas of convergence. For instance, if we are to enter into a coalition with the DA, do we have areas where we converge, politically and ideologically?” Mabuyane said.
“Surely, the delivery of services to the citizens of the Nelson Mandela metro is the first area of convergence and commitment to clean governance might be the second area of convergence. Comrades, these are some of the tactical and strategic questions that must occupy all of us as we embark in this process of identifying the best cadres that will run our municipalities.”
Speaking in isiXhosa, Mabuyane told PEC members that they could not condemn the people of Nelson Mandela Bay to suffer inconsistent leadership for another five years.
The ANC failed to gain an outright majority in the Dr Beyers Naude and KouKamma municipalities and failed to regain Nelson Mandela Bay.
The council comprises 120 seats, meaning the ANC and DA each need 13 seats to gain control of Nelson Mandela Bay. Both parties garnered 48 seats on the hotly contested metropolitan council. To control the municipality, a political party needs 61 seats.
The metro is considered the hub and traditional home of the ANC in the province. Mabuyane said the PEC should be mindful that coalition governments were a new political reality in Europe. In Germany for, instance, they functioned well and brought stability and economic growth to the entire eurozone.
“I would like us to remember comrades that this is not about us and how we feel about working with opposition parties. There are thousands of people who voted for the ANC in Nelson Mandela Metro, in Dr Beyers Naude and in KouKamma. They rely on us to make informed choices about their future because they want development and services. What do we do about them? Do we say, you did not give us enough votes, so we are not interested in coalition arrangements? Or do we say, in the interest of development we are willing to work with anyone who is prepared to advance shared developmental programmes with us?” he said.
“Realistically, the post 1 November local government landscape has changed drastically, and coalition local governments are now our new reality; our new normal. They are part of our political DNA. This is the sad reality that we must comprehend.”
Earlier, ANC acting secretary general Jessie Duarte said the party had accepted the reality of having to enter into coalitions and other forms of agreements to govern the municipalities in which it had lost its majority of 50% plus one seat.
However, it would not go into coalitions “at any cost” and would, if necessary, be an opposition party in some councils.
Duarte said a team of party leaders, led by ANC policy head Jeff Radebe, would be presenting an assessment of the results to the extended national working committee (NWC) meeting at the weekend. The NWC would come up with guidelines and principles for engaging in coalitions, which it would aim to lead and which were “nothing new”, Duarte added.
“We would find it difficult to go into a coalition with any political party that has a racist agenda … with a party that doesn’t believe in local economic development … or black economic empowerment. Having said that, coalitions will always necessitate compromises,” Duarte said.
The Northern Alliance (NA), which took three seats, and other small parties aim to become the collective kingmakers. The parties were understood to be meeting on Thursday to consolidate their position and come up with a collective approach to the big parties to increase their bargaining power.
“We definitely want to be part of the government. We are the leaders of the second-tier parties. We are first going to consolidate on our side before we meet with the big parties in the afternoon,” an NA leader said. “There was an approach [from the DA and the ANC], but we told them to hold on a bit.”
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