The deal brokered in Cape Town by Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi this week was little more than a face-saving mechanism for the African National Congress (ANC), acting Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Kraai van Niekerk said on Friday.
In the absence of DA leader Tony Leon, who is abroad, Van Niekerk said in the regular leader’s internet column SA Today on Friday: ”A major victory for democracy was won this week. The DA and its coalition partners succeeded in fending off the ANC’s latest attempt at usurping control of the city of Cape Town.”
”The so-called ‘compromise’ is little more than a face-saving mechanism for the ANC, who have desperately but vainly tried to persuade the people of Cape Town that Tuesday’s announcement was a victory for them.
”However, most observers will surely agree that the ruling party has been forced to backtrack spectacularly on their ill-conceived plan.”
The deal involves granting the ANC two extra sub-council chairmanships in the city as well as constituting ward committees.
Van Niekerk said Mufamadi ”must be congratulated for persuading his provincial counterpart, local government and housing MEC Richard Dyantyi, to back down on his threat to change the mayoral system in such a way as to enable the ANC and their sidekicks in the Independent Democrats to gain power”.
”Mufamadi’s intervention is a clear slap in the face of the [provincial secretary Mcebisi] Skwatsha and [provincial chairperson James] Ngculu faction of the provincial African National Congress, who are believed to have spearheaded the efforts to undermine the democratically elected government of the city.
”Not only does this entire sorry episode prove that the ANC in the Western Cape are out of step with the wishes of the people of this province; it [also] demonstrates their failure to grasp just how damaging their efforts at unseating the multiparty government have been.
”South Africa’s reputation for democracy, and the ANC’s in particular, has been severely compromised by the attempt to unseat mayor [Helen] Zille. Despite the fact that they were forced to back off, the whole episode has exposed the disdain with which the ANC views opposition,” argued Van Niekerk, who is a former National Party agriculture minister. — I-Net Bridge