Tshwane coalitions: DA will need support of breakaway party ActionSA as EFF partnership breaks
DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party would not “roll back and jump into bed with the EFF” in an effort to retain power in the Tshwane metro.
For the DA to stay in power in Tshwane metro, following the failed partnership with the EFF, it will have to form a coalition with its breakaway party ActionSA or else seat at the opposition benches.
In the local government elections the DA attained 32.03% votes translating to 69 council seats.
Talks of coalition have begun as no party received majority votes, the ANC and DA battled for the metro’s leadership.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party would not “roll back and jump into bed with the EFF” in an effort to retain power in the Tshwane metro. Without the support of the EFF it leaves a significant gap for the DA to reach 108 council seats to lead the metro again.
ALSO READ: Tshwane final results: No party wins majority vote, ANC and DA lose votes but remain on top
“I would rather make it as an opposition and serve the residents of Tshwane well than being part of a compromised government,” Steenhuisen said.
“We had a really difficult time in Tshwane, we did not really deliver as much as we would have liked. We had an unstable internal arrangement (with the EFF).”
He said the coalition failed to ensure main priorities of the political leadership such as passing of budgets in the metro.
“Added to that we had a provincial government on the back of that administration trying to undermine it and take over. We spent months under illegal administration and had to go to court to solve that.”
ALSO READ: Local elections: One less coalition possibility for ANC
Steenhuisen said the DA would form a coalition with the same parties (Freedom Front Plus, ACDP, UDM and COPE) except the EFF. But even with seats of all these combined the DA will still need more seats, that of ActionSA to win.
ActionSA and the DA have not yet indicated if they would form an agreement but ActionSA said they will not support the ANC.
“One lesson from the past coalition is not to do coalition with people who do not share your values and principles, that’s how you end up giving free tenders and appoint officials because they know someone you are in a coalition with.”
DA lost votes in the region standing at 32.03% from 43.15% in 2016. Steenhuisen said there were lessons to be learnt in these elections to keep the party afloat.
“We will have to retrospect where we have not done well and concentrate on improving those areas and make sure we regain the trust of people in those places.”
Steenhuisen blamed low voter turnout, which saw them lose votes on the chaotic and unprogressive coalitions, “people have voiced out their dissatisfaction with that in these elections”.
“There is a commitment we made to the voters before the elections, we cannot go into a coalition with people who do not share our core values and principles,” he said.
He said the dangers of coalition with parties not sharing the same political ideas, the DA would suffer from not being able to deliver promises to the people who voted them in power.
Meanwhile, ActionSA this week started a survey, open to the public, to suggest which party they should form coalitions with.
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
