Kingmaker: The ANC gave the ABC’s Philani Mavundla the eThekwini deputy mayorship for his vote. (Darren Stewart/Gallo Images)
For two weeks political parties jostled in meetings to decide who would run the 160 hung municipalities. There were no clear winners then and after this week it seems parties are unsure who exactly has the power at this point. Although various coalitions have been formed across the country, many of them are hanging by a thread, with the slightest provocation meaning the newly elected city governments could collapse before May next year.
IFP U-Turn
The about-turn by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) — which also came close to costing the ANC eThekwini — came as a result of a revolt by councillors over the deal with the governing party.
In addition to delivering the Gauteng metros to the opposition coalition, the IFP’s co-operation with the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters gave it control of several key hung municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, including Umhlatuze and Newcastle.
“There was an agreement, yes, but the ANC broke it by contesting us in Abaqulusi, so we realised very soon that we could not trust them,” said one IFP councillor, who asked not to be named. “They did the same in Mtonjaneni, so we decided that we would vote with whichever party stood against the ANC.”
In eThekwini, the opposition alliance backed the DA’s Nicole Graham as mayoral candidate and the IFP’s Mdu Nkosi as deputy mayor against the ANC’s Mxolisi Kaunda and Philani Mavundla of the Abantu Batho Congress (ABC).
ABC playbook
The ANC gave Mavundla one of its exco seats — allowing him to stand as deputy mayor on an ANC ticket — under controversial circumstances in exchange for his party’s support for Kaunda in eThekwini.
The ANC’s victory, which it engineered after collapsing Monday’s inaugural council meeting when it realised it no longer had the numbers, may also be short-lived.
The party required the votes of the ABC — whose leader had been part of the anti-ANC coalition up until Tuesday — and whose reliability as an ally is, at best, questionable, to make up the numbers it needed.
Likewise the plethora of one-vote parties — it took the support of eight of them to get Kaunda over the line in the mayoral election — who the ANC will be hard pressed to keep on side when it comes to council resolutions and passing the municipal budget in May.
ANC reaches out
During a media briefing on Thursday, EFF leader Julius Malema said that a conversation around metros and other hung municipalities had occurred with suspended secretary general Ace Magashule shortly before the eThekwini council sitting. He said Mavundla had also indicated that he had spoken to former president Jacob Zuma before the sitting.
The Mail & Guardian understands that Zweli Mkhize and Magashule were at the centre of the sudden shift by Mavundla, leading to the election of Kaunda as the new mayor. Previously, the M&G reported that the ANC in the eThekwini region had made the suggestion to the provincial leaders that Zuma lead negotiations, after the IFP turned its back on any possible coalitions with the ANC.
ANC sources in the provincial executive committee say Zuma was the only option for the party to stand a chance at regaining some municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal.
Zuma is also one of the few ANC leaders who can bridge the gap between premier Sihle Zikalala and the Zulu monarch, the sources contend.
ActionSA bides its time
ActionSA chairperson Michael Beaumont said: “Broadly speaking, it is difficult to respond [on voting patterns for budgets and motions] until such a time as coalition negotiations arising from these council meetings have made progress.”
He added: “I think it would be premature to make any remarks about how ActionSA would approach the task of serving residents within these municipal arrangements.”
EFF won’t play nice
On Thursday, Malema said the party did not owe the DA anything, nor is it owed anything by the DA. Malema said the EFF would not have a single meeting with the DA in the next five years.
“We heard Herman say when they [Action SA] go to negotiations [with the DA], the EFF will be there. We’re not going to any negotiations, Herman.
“You can go: you speak our language very well. You will represent us,” Malema said.
On how the party would vote in the metros, including whether the EFF would want to influence decisions and budgets, Malema was noncommittal about the EFF’s strategy.
“We are going to vote for any budget [and] we are going to vote for any motion that speaks to service delivery — that wants to make Hammanskraal a better place, and give the people of Hammanskraal clean water.
“Whether that thing of clean water is proposed by [the] Freedom Front Plus or not, we still vote for clean water in Hammanskraal — irrespective of who is proposing it.”
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