Daily Maverick
Dailymaverick logo

Politics

Politics, South Africa, Maverick News

Governance within KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng set for leadership shifts if ANC and DA reach GNU agreement

Governance within KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng set for leadership shifts if ANC and DA reach GNU agreement
Queenin Masuabi
By Queenin Masuabi
26 Jun 2024
Facebook
0
The formation of a government of national unity is leading to a realignment in the political landscape as talks have moved to include the ANC partnering with the DA in municipalities in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

While discussions on how the government of national unity (GNU) will work at a national level continue, there have been informal talks about the possibility of a partnership between the ANC and DA extending to local government. The DA has been amenable to work with the ANC in all hung governments.

The EFF has served the ANC with divorce papers, which means they will have to find new bedfellows in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).

DA KZN chairperson Dean Macpherson told Daily Maverick that working with the ANC at the local level would depend on whether his party successfully concludes the GNU talks.

The agreement would also be extended from the national level to hung municipalities, he said.

“There are discussions between the parties as a mechanism to restructure local government in KwaZulu-Natal, in particular eThekwini, Msunduzi and KwaDukuza, which are hung councils and require urgent interventions for a variety of issues. Those have been put on hold until such a time there is a national agreement or not.

“That is conditional on there being a national agreement which the DA has previously said would filter down to a local level,” he said.

Read more in Daily Maverick: While ANC-DA Cabinet talks continue, leaked letters reveal parties at odds

The DA and ANC have enough seats in eThekwini, Msunduzi and KwaDukuza to form governments, but there is one problem: the DA already has a service delivery pact with the IFP in KZN.

The DA and IFP have an agreement which says where each party holds seats in a hung municipality, they will work together to improve service delivery and better the lives of residents.

eThekwini Metro


The eThekwini Municipality was set to elect a mayor on Tuesday, but this was halted despite news that ANC National Executive Committee member Cyril Xaba had been touted for the position.

This comes after the ANC’s Mxolisi Kaunda, the former eThekwini mayor, resigned from his position this month and took up a role in the National Council of Provinces.

ANC insiders told Daily Maverick that there would be a number of parties who would not vote with them following the party’s decision to take the GNU route.

They further confirmed that the ANC was in talks at the national level which would determine how the party would be aligning itself at local government level.

ATM councillor Lwazi Mbele told Daily Maverick that the delay in voting in Xaba was caused by Speaker Thabani Nyawose having sworn him in as an ordinary councillor instead of a member of the executive. 

Xaba would have been put forward as the ANC’s candidate on Tuesday if it had not been for Nyawose’s blunder.

Mbele did say that while there seemed to be alignment between the ANC and DA at Tuesday’s council sitting, there had been no formal announcement about such a partnership. The ATM has worked alongside the ANC in the city and would be notified if they were no longer partners.

“We saw a little bit of it [the DA working with ANC] today. We saw somewhere along the lines, surprisingly, they were voting together on some items, which was something new to us. Today, they did vote together on about four items, for the first time ever,” he said.

Gauteng metros


In Gauteng there has been a strong lobby by a section of the ANC Johannesburg region to have the mayor, Al Jama-ah’s Kabelo Gwamanda, removed. They want the city’s finance MMC, Dada Morero, to take the helm. 

The ANC members felt that Al Jama-ah ruined relations with the ANC when the party initially supported the Progressive Caucus, which is opposed to the GNU.

This is despite Al Jama-ah leader Ganief Hendricks expressing confidence in the stability of Gwamanda’s position after joining the GNU, citing assurances received from the ANC.

Morero has always been touted for the position but was stifled by the coalition in the city. Al Jama-ah’s Thapelo Amad was initially installed as mayor after the ANC and EFF took over the city, but they could not decide who would get the mayoral position.

Once Amad was removed, Gwamanda was also voted in by the EFF-ANC coalition in the city in 2023.

Recently, the ANC axed EFF regional leader Nkululeko Dunga as finance MMC in Ekurhuleni.

The two parties had been at loggerheads in the city, although mayor Doctor Xhakaza said the decision was taken to fast-track the completion and approval of the annual budget. DM

Categories:

Tags: