Ekurhuleni mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza. (Papi Morake/Gallo Images)
The ANC in Ekurhuleni plans to “restructure” its coalition arrangement with the Economic Freedom Fighters to bring in the Democratic Alliance (DA) and other parties as it moves to dump the EFF after its heavy losses in the 29 May elections.
Negotiations between the ANC and the DA have gathered momentum, with the ANC using the EFF’s poor performance as leverage to remove the party from the mayoral committee positions it currently holds.
Despite a tense relationship with the DA in other parts of Gauteng, particularly in the City of Tshwane, the ANC in Ekurhuleni has seen a new opportunity for cooperation with the other party to establish a more stable coalition in the city, effectively sidelining the Red Berets.
The ANC initially chose to partner with the EFF, rather than the DA, in the metro following the 2021 local government elections but senior figures in the region have since criticised this decision as a mistake that cost the ANC at the polls in the last elections.
Ekurhuleni regional coordinator Jongizizwe Dlabathi, who replaced the EFF’s Nkululeko Dunga as the finance MMC after he was fired from his position, has been vocal about his opposition to the coalition with the Red Berets.
He argues that the EFF is being given an outsized influence in the council, despite failing to win a single ward in the by-elections held since 2021 and its voter support dropping from 14.29% to 12.92% in May.
“The EFF was given four MMC [member of the mayoral committee] portfolios even after failing to secure a single ward in the 2024 elections. This shows that they can’t continue to govern. The electorate has decided and we believe this decision is for the best of our people here in Ekurhuleni,” Dlabathi said.
A report Dlabathi submitted to the ANC’s national working committee last month said the party’s collaboration with the EFF had alienated many people on the East Rand.
The ANC’s share of the provincial vote in the May elections fell to 36.21% from 55.19% in 2019 and it is no longer able to govern Gauteng alone.
The report echoed the sentiments of regional ANC members, who had expressed concerns before the polls, warning that the coalition with the EFF would undermine the party’s electoral prospects.
These warnings have since proven prescient, as the ANC saw its vote share plummet in key wards across the metro, Dlabathi said.
An ANC source in the region who declined to be named said the ongoing negotiations with the DA were aimed at establishing a new power-sharing agreement that would exclude the EFF but incorporate smaller parties like the Patriotic Alliance and ActionSA to help keep the metro accountable.
This reconfiguration is seen as a response to the dissatisfaction expressed by many regional leaders.
But ActionSA’s chairperson, Michael Beaumont, said the party is not interested in a working relationship with the DA, which had excluded it from discussions and went behind its back to negotiate with the ANC.
Since the 2021 elections, the EFF has wielded significant influence over the city’s leadership, initially playing a key role in the administration of former DA mayor Tania Campbell.
When Campbell was ousted, the EFF maintained its influence under African Independent Congress (AIC) mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana, who was appointed through the ANC-EFF pact.
Another ANC leader in the metro said the EFF’s disproportionate influence had contributed to instability in the metro, hindering effective governance and service delivery.
“This is one of the pain points for the mayor [Nkosindiphile Xhakaza] that the party that is weighing us down continues to occupy important positions, despite producing subpar results. The metro has been a mess that the ANC has to fix now,” they said.
Adding to these concerns is a recent report by the auditor general that highlighted a regression in Ekurhuleni’s audit performance. It pointed to a lack of competency among key officials involved in the audit process, raising questions about the metro’s financial management under the current coalition.
In response to the auditor general’s report, Xhakaza established a war room to address governance failures. Early this year Xhakaza said the ANC-led coalition government would focus on stabilising the city’s financial position after it received an unqualified report with findings for the period during which the EFF’s Dunga was in charge of the finances.
This initiative, spearheaded by senior city managers, aims to improve service delivery by monitoring operations in real time, including the handling of public complaints and financial oversight.
Xhakaza, who moved from the private sector into politics in 2014, has been at the forefront of efforts to overhaul the metro’s administration. The war room strategy is part of a broader attempt to rebuild public confidence in Ekurhuleni’s government, which has faced mounting criticism over service delivery failures in recent years.
High-ranking sources in the ANC said that MMCs from the EFF would be removed from their positions because they “serve no purpose” in the coalition
Dunga said the EFF was unaware of any efforts to remove the party from power, expressing hope that its close relationship with Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi would protect it at the city level. He added that if the ANC aligned with the DA, no-confidence motions would have to be initiated by the ANC to oust EFF officials from councils.