DA leader John Steenhuisen. Photo: Victoria O’Regan/Getty Images
The Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) “reckless racial utterances” and “thoughtless decisions” at local government level are a threat to the Multi-Party Charter’s (MPC’s) plans to remove the ANC from power, ActionSA’s national spokesperson, Michael Beaumont said.
In an interview with the Mail & Guardian, Beaumont said DA leader John Steenhuisen‘s recent comments and the party’s inability to make amends with smaller parties interested in the charter had affected the coalition.
Steenhuisen came under fire last week when he compared Gauteng crime wardens to “drunkards out of a shebeen in Pep-bought uniforms”.
Steenhuisen defended his statement saying that he shopped at Pep.
The MPC was created when a number of parties — including the DA, Inkatha Freedom Party, Freedom Front Plus, United Independent Movement and the Independent South African National Civic Organisation — signed an agreement to co-govern the country should the parties unseat the ANC as the majority party.
Despite criticism from its allies, DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga said Steenhuisen’s comments did not affect the coalition.
“The leaders met last week, and this was not a concern for the coalition to show that there was no backlash or fall from the parties involved in the coalition,” he said.
The friction between the DA and ActionSA was partly caused by the blue party’s indifference to Gayton McKenzie’s Patriotic Alliance. ActionSA has long held a view that the MPC should extend an invitation to the Patriotic Alliance to join the coalition while the DA labelled the PA a flip-flopper for having voted with the ANC.
Last year, the coalition failed in its motion of no confidence in Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda after the DA refused to negotiate with the PA. At the time, Beaumont accused the DA of reneging on its promise to take all necessary measures to prevent the ANC from retaining power.
Despite this, ActionSA had remained in the coalition.
Beaumont said it was important for the MPC to be open to parties they had differences with to ensure that the charter’s mandate succeeds.
Beaumont said ActionSA was fighting to garner enough support during these elections to reduce the DA’s influence over a potential coalition government.
The DA had agreed to elect ActionSA’s Nasiphi Moya as the City of Tshwane’s deputy mayor, with Beaumont saying this contributed to “trust building” between the two parties.
“We recognise that there’s a need to build trust and that it is not going to be an overnight thing. We still have major trust issues between us [DA and ActionSA], but at the end of the day we have to prioritise the fact that most South Africans of all varieties want parties to work together for their interests,” he said.
Beaumont said although local government coalitions had collapsed over political differences, the MPC had been insulated at national and provincial coalition level.