ANC Veterans’ League suggests DA alliance if party ‘sorts out racism issue’

The African National Congress (ANC) Veterans’ League has proposed that the ruling party should look into working with the Democratic Alliance (DA) with next year’s elections around the corner.

‘Racism issue’

This after ANC Veterans’ League president Snuki Zikalala seemingly suggested that the racism was the main issue hindering the governing party and the DA to form a grand coalition.

Zikalala also cautioned against the ANC entering into an alliance with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Daily Maverick reported.

“I think that the EFF is done. The only issue is that there is a red line with the DA. Their issue is that of racism. So if they are able to sort this out, then maybe we could work with them,” he said.

The DA came under fire in 2021, after putting up election posters that were deemed racially inflammatory in Phoenix, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).

The posters read: “The ANC called you racists” and “The DA calls you heroes”.

ALSO READ: ‘Shameful and fascist’ – ANC slams DA election posters in Phoenix

The DA’s move came as Phoenix was a hotbed of racial tension amid the looting and riots in July.

More than 30 people were killed during the unrest and was largely blamed on the Indian community in the area.

The ANC described the posters as “shameful and fascist in nature”, while ordinary South Africans expressed their disgust on social media.

Despite the backlash, DA leader John Steenhuisen doubled down on the posters.

“The heroes are black, white, Indian and coloured South Africans who stood up for the rule of law,” the DA leader said at the time.

He added that stereotyping the Indian community in Phoenix as racist “fans racial tension far more than a poster does”.

Dysfunctional municipalities

Meanwhile, Zikalala had also raised concern over the state of coalition politics across the country.

“We are aware that we’ve got 42 dysfunctional municipalities. We, as veterans, have committed ourselves to ensure that those municipalities are fixed, not by civil servants, not by us intervening directly but making sure that branches of the veterans’ league are encouraged to participate in fixing those municipalities.

“The veterans’ league was concerned about the coalitions being formed without adherence to principle or the imperative to deliver services to our people,” the ANC Veterans’ League president continued.

RELATED: ANC will lose Gauteng in 2024, but it’s a risk to get into bed with EFF

He also warned that a reliance on coalitions could signal that the ANC is not confident in winning future elections outright.

“We are confident in winning elections because we know why people stayed away… we failed them in service delivery and there was no accountability,” Zikalala said.

“The Veterans’ League believes that a renewed and strengthened ANC must be capable of outrightly winning elections and, if we do not succeed, any political arrangement must be guided by a principled commitment to deliver to the people.”

Coalitions

The ANC has previously lost power in the major metros, but often returned to the seat of power after forming coalitions with the EFF and other smaller parties.

The governing party wrested power from DA-led coalitions in Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg earlier, however, lost the battle in Tshwane.

With South Africa set to go to the polls in 2024, the DA has already affirmed its position on to work with the ANC.

READ MORE: Only an ANC-EFF alliance can work to form a stable government

During his victory speech after his re-election earlier this month, Steenhuisen vowed to prevent ANC and EFF “doomsday coalition” from taking power of the country.

Steenhuisen proposed a “moonshot pact” and called on smaller parties to enter into a coalition agreement before the 2024 elections.

He also declared the EFF and its leader Julius Malema as the DA’s ultimate enemy.