Tshwane seals coalition government deal after month of talks

A multi-party mayoral committee was expected to be announced in Tshwane this week.

This was after a month of talks between the DA, Freedom Front Plus, ActionSA, Cope and ACDP came to an end this weekend with a formal agreement.

The DA’s candidate, Randall Williams, was elected as the mayor unopposed on November 23 without any formal coalition agreements between the parties.

With the Tshwane council being no stranger to chaos due to informal coalition agreements, political parties have since the results of the local government election on November 4 taken part in talks of partnerships in the metro to establish stability.

Some changes were anticipated with the new coalition contract finalised this weekend, which was confirmed by multi-party leaders to Rekord.

Cope Tshwane regional chairperson Dr Murunwa Makwarela speaking to the Rekord on Monday said the party was given the position of speaker of council currently held by DA’s Katlego Mathebe.

“I can confirm that the agreement was finalised and I can confirm that we are part of that government,” Makwarela said.

“In Tshwane, Cope will provide the speaker of council.”

Makwearela said Cope did get a position in the mayoral committee but the coalition government agreed on giving the party the position of Mathebe who was elected unopposed as the speaker of council on November 23.

Metro chief of staff Jordan Griffiths confirmed the metro anticipated for the committee to be announced this week.

“We are still waiting for the DA’s national leaders as they are still finalising in Johannesburg but we do expect that the committee will be announced.”

Griffiths did not divulge on the composition of the mayoral committee.

He said this was still being finalised by the DA’s national leaders.

Freedom Front Plus (FFPlus) CEO Pieter de Necker said although he could give details about the committee, he said “after long discussions, we think the metro will be fairly represented”.

Explaining why the process was so lengthy, De Necker said: “When you have various parties coming together it is challenging because each party comes with their own manifestos and we have to find one another in a new programme of government. It is not just about positions, it is much more than that.”

De Necker said the long talks the parties had was an attempt to ensure stable coalition partnerships.

“It is vital that coalitions work and deliver services to the residents.”

De Necker said although some parties would not be in the mayoral committee, like the FF Plus in Ekurhuleni, they would take positions in the other structures of the government.

“There is the legislative and oversight part and not just the executive. During our talks we looked at those as to what different roles will the parties play part. This will be evident in the coming weeks in elections of head of committees.”

This weekend, in Ekurhuleni a multi-party mayoral committee was elected. It consisted of ActionSA, Inkatha Freedom Party and DA councillors.