TAKEOVER PLOT

ANC, EFF plan to seize Gauteng Metros

Thapelo Amad, the new Johannesburg mayor, is the first of many who will take over the running of Gauteng municipalities in the coming months if a new deal between the ANC and the EFF holds.

Amad, of the small Al Jama-ah party, was elected on Friday by 138 councillors, while the DA’s Mpho Phalatse received 81 votes and Funzi Ngobeni of ActionSA 48.

But Amad’s stay is likely to be short as he is seen as a stand-in while the ANC and EFF try to iron out a pact that would see the red berets taking over the running of Ekurhuleni and the ANC returning to power in Johannesburg.

The deal between the EFF and ANC fell apart at the eleventh hour three months ago after ANC regional chair Mzwandile Masina refused to endorse the agreement, which had the blessing of the party’s provincial executive committee.

At the time, the EFF fielded one of Julius Malema’s close allies, Nkululeko Dunga, as mayoral candidate for Ekurhuleni, having agreed with the ANC at provincial level.

But just minutes before voting, Dunga had to withdraw when it emerged the ANC in the region wanted their own Jongizizwe Dlabathi to contest for the mayoral chain.

In retaliation, the EFF voted DA’s Tania Campbell back into office as mayor.

With Masina having graduated to a national role after his election to the national ANC’s executive committee last month, the ANC and EFF appear set to agree again on the two cities.

Addressing the EFF plenum on Friday, Malema said his party was ready to govern in Gauteng metros and anywhere in the country. “One of the abnormalities we have identified is that the racist DA, which at every opportunity insults the EFF and refuses to work with us, occupied leadership roles in all of the metropolitans of Gauteng province,” said Malema.

“They have since been removed in Joburg and the reality is that they will likely be removed across the Gauteng metros in a bid to ensure that they are taught humility and that this organisation of ours gets the necessary governance experience.”

In Johannesburg, however, any agreement reached between the two will need the blessing of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) to be effective.

The PA is now amenable to working with the ANC and EFF and other small parties against the DA, said party deputy president Kenny Kunene. The PA ditched the DA during the vote against Phalatse after their demands were rejected.

The alliance between the ANC and EFF — and by extension the PA and other small parties disgruntled with the DA — is also poised to go after the City of Tshwane.

ANC regional secretary George Matjila said Tshwane will “take the route of Johannesburg”.

“There are many problems in Tshwane. There’s R10bn that can’t be accounted for, R480m in wasteful expenditure, no services at all, not a single capital project in the townships currently. Traffic lights don’t work at the intersections, potholes are all over in the municipal roads, waste is not collected — from working with 30 to 40 trucks they have reduced them to three.”

ANC Gauteng provincial chair Panyaza Lesufi said the operation to wrest power back from the DA will not end with the metropolitan cities as they eye further partnerships in other municipalities across the province.

“We are taking each municipality as it comes, not only Ekurhuleni. In Tshwane there is a motion that is up as well, Mogale City is next and West Rand as well. With our coalition partners, we are going to enter a session over the weekend just to allocate responsibilities and also strengthen the working relationship,” said Lesufi.

DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party found comfort in the knowledge that the “coalition of the corrupt” led by the ANC and EFF would crumble quickly.

“We have seen these partnerships before, such as in Nelson Mandela Bay, and there is always a fallout among the thieves,” said Steenhuisen. “I have no doubt that just like the coalition of corruption in NMB fell apart, the coalition of corruption in Joburg now will fall apart and we will stand ready to provide an alternative.”

Political analyst Xolani Dube said coalitions in their current form only benefit the political elite at the expense of the electorate. “Politicians are not understanding the voice of the people, because they are not willing to work together for the benefit of South Africans. Voters have distributed responsibility and power among the parties and the failure of their ability to work together for stability affects voters the most.

“They are all to blame for not serving voter interests. [Poor voters] are waiting for water, still waiting for electricity, still waiting for refuse collection, while their [the politicians’] livelihoods are secured.”

Politicians are not understanding the voice of the people, because they are not willing to work together for the benefit of South Africans

Xolani Dube

Political analyst