Eldorado Park's Patriotic Alliance members in support of their Ward 18 councillor candidate on 30 June 2021. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
The Patriotic Alliance (PA) has joined the multi-party coalition in two Gauteng municipalities.
On Tuesday, Freedom Front Plus (FF+) MP, Dr Corné Mulder, announced that the PA agreed to join the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) multi-party coalition in the City of Ekurhuleni and the City of Johannesburg after “hours and hours” of negotiations.
The coalition agreement will see eight PA councillors join the City of Johannesburg, while four councillors will join the City of Ekurhuleni.
According to Mulder, the PA will have one position in Johannesburg’s mayoral committee and two positions in Ekurhuleni.
“They will bring those numbers in, specifically in the City of Johannesburg, [and] it will [give] the coalition a clear majority to pass budgets and take the necessary decisions when we need to,” he said.
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The DA is leading the multi-party governments in Gauteng alongside the FF+, ActionSA, African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and Congress of the People (Cope), who are in a coalition in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni.
The parties formed councils following the 2021 local government polls that produced no outright winner in these metros.
Addressing the media, DA leader John Steenhuisen described the new and amended coalition agreement as “historic”.
“These coalitions represent a beacon of hope in a rather bleak political landscape… if these partners, who represent different political parties and have different views on a number of matters, can put the petty politics aside to be able to come together around a common objective as outlined in the coalition agreement.
“I think it shows that the parties at this table are serious about the people of South Africa [and their futures]. These people here are the way of the future.
“They are going to be the parties that change South Africa for the better, because whatever you say the ANC will fall below 50% in the next elections, which is going to open up the era for a whole new opportunity for a new South Africa,” Steenhuisen said.
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PA leader Gayton McKenzie said it was “a great honour” for his party to be serving alongside the coalition partners and its leaders.
“We don’t care who we work with. We went to the extent to say we [can] even work with the AWB [Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging] if we have to, because for us we should bring personalities into politics.
“I joined this coalition [because] I believe that things can change. Our politics have turned into [a] phrase… point of order. That is all that they can deliver these politicians,” he said.
The coalition agreement has notably excluded the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
The EFF backed the DA’s candidates following the elections which saw Mpho Phalatse elected as mayor of Johannesburg, while Tania Campbell and Randall Williams took over Ekurhuleni and Tshwane respectively.
Earlier this month, the coalition partners accused ActionSA of advocating for the EFF to be part of the multi-party governments despite an agreement to exclude the party.