Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson. (Darren Stewart/Gallo Images)
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal has reiterated its stance against working with the ANC in eThekwini despite suggestions that it might do so to prevent closer ANC/uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party relations in the province.
Last week, MK head of presidency Magasela Mzobe claimed at a media briefing that the party was talking to the ANC and the National Freedom Party (NFP) to install an MK-led provincial government before next year’s April budget.
Mzobe’s claims sparked suggestions that the DA might offer to work with the ANC in eThekwini to improve relations between the government of provincial unity partners and reduce the space which MK could exploit.
The DA has refused to partner with the ANC in eThekwini over its role in the removal of Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink, and says it will only do so if he is reinstated.
DA KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Dean Macpherson told the Mail & Guardian that the party remains committed to serving voters without aligning with the ANC.
He criticised the ANC for its alliances with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in certain municipalities, including eThekwini, despite previous disagreements between the two parties.
Macpherson said he was not surprised by the ANC’s actions because it was an inconsistent partner, collaborating with the EFF despite previously calling the Red Berets councillors “clueless”.
Macpherson made it clear that the DA would not compromise its principles or “help resolve the ANC’s internal challenges through coalitions”.
“We cannot fix another political party’s internal problems, nor will we agree to implement ideologies that have contributed to a 42% unemployment rate. This would undermine our integrity and independence as a political party,” he said.
The ousting of Brink as Tshwane mayor on 26 September, through a motion of no confidence led by the ANC and supported by the EFF and ActionSA, has further strained relations between the DA and the ANC.
The removal marked the end of an 18-month tenure. In response, the DA declared that it would not work with the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal until Brink was reinstated.
DA federal chairperson Helen Zille issued Luthuli House with an ultimatum to help reinstate Brink as mayor or face the consequences, but the ANC backed ActionSA’s Nasiphi Moya as new Tshwane mayor, with the assistance of the EFF.
Zille told the Mail & Guardian at the time that her party would no longer participate in stability talks with the ANC with a view to taking or maintaining joint control of metros including Ekurhuleni, eThekwini and Nelson Mandela Bay.
These talks about a stability agreement would have ensured that the DA and ANC protected each other during motions of no confidence in the metros they both govern.
Zille added that although the DA had voted with the ANC in eThekwini metro to install Cyril Xaba as the mayor in July, it would reconsider its position with regard to further collaboration there.
“The ANC must watch this space,” she said.
DA provincial leader Francois Rodgers told a media briefing last week that the party would not consider working with the ANC in eThekwini because it had undermined other DA-led local governments.
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal — which is currently fighting possible disbandment over 29 May electoral losses — has rejected claims that it is talking to the MK party, which emerged as the largest political party in the province after the 29 May elections, with 45% of the support and 38 seats in the legislature.
The Inkatha Freedom Party, the ANC, the DA and the NFP constituted a government of provincial unity and kept the MK party out of power, which has since repeatedly claimed that it will rely on the votes of “sleeper” members of the provincial legislature in the ANC on key issues.
The MK party failed to do so in votes for the premier, speaker and committee chairpersons in the legislature and on a mini-budget, but this has not stopped Mzobe from again claiming that the party would be able to work the numbers and take control of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature.