Tshwane parties extend coalition talks’ deadline, council inauguration postponed
The parties were expected to conclude talks on Wednesday but in an absence of a coalition agreement council inauguration has been postponed. A political analyst says this indicates that councils would possibly head for disaster governance as parties struggle to find middle ground.
Struggling to find a middle ground and seal coalition government agreements, political parties in Tshwane have postponed the inauguration of the council initially set for Thursday to the deadline day for the first council meeting.
On Tuesday, the political parties met with the acting metro’s municipality manager Mmaseabata Mutlaneng to postpone the council inauguration to next week Tuesday, November 23, which is the final day for the council to have its first meeting after the elections.
In the municipal elections, no party received majority votes. This meant Tshwane would again be led by a coalition government.
ALSO READ: Tshwane coalitions: ActionSA likely to partner with DA as coalition talks with EFF hit deadlock
Wednesday was supposed to be the final day for coalition talks, which have been held since last week, but all parties agreed they needed more time as coalition agreements were not yet finalised. The metro remains hung without political leadership.
Earlier this week, the DA, Freedom Front Plus, ACDP, ActionSA and Patriotic Alliance (PA) leaders held a meeting in Johannesburg to discuss coalition partnerships, but it ended without any signed agreement.
The PA had pulled out of coalition talks with the DA after not agreeing on principles.
“We differ in what we believe in as people. I’m in these coalition talks for power-sharing and not principle sharing. We want power because your principles haven’t built houses and given jobs,” PA leader Gayton McKenzie said.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said being unable to form a coalition with the PA would not affect the party from winning in Tshwane but only in Johannesburg.
“In Tshwane, there is very much a path to victory,” he said.
He said this would be possible with a partnership with FF Plus, ACDP, ActionSA and Cope.
“The principle in coalition government is that the party with the most votes gets the mayor position but what we are clear about is that we want to create positions for other parties in the mayoral committees,” Steenhuisen said.
FF Plus CEO Pieter de Necker said coalition talks with the DA were stable although no final agreement was reached as they were mulling over the parties’ working conditions.
“It is important that parties find each other because the coalition will last for five years,” he said.
One of the things the FF Plus was not happy about in the previous coalition was the metro was labelled as a “DA-led coalition”.
De Necker said they wanted the metro to be seen as a “multi-party coalition or coalition government”.
“When parties enter into coalitions, they enter as equal parties irrespective of the proportion sizes and that will play a role when it comes to committees. Parties should treat each other equally. That was the first thing we agreed on as a lesson from the past coalition in Tshwane,” he said.
Meanwhile, EFF leader Julius Malema’s hopes of taking over Tshwane in a coalition with the ANC and ActionSA fell flat this week.
Malema said the party had stopped talks with the ANC. ActionSA had rejected the EFF’s proposals.
Tweet:
MALEMA: What broke the deal with the EFF and ANC is that they were not bringing anything but positions. No issues. #EFFPresser
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) November 16, 2021
Tshwane University of Technology political analyst Levy Ndou said the postponement of the inauguration of the council was an indication that the parties were failing to agree on coalition arrangements.
“This creates suspicion as to whether these parties will be able to work together in a coalition government. If they are failing at a foundation phase, it means we are heading for a huge disaster; there is a huge possibility of that.”
Ndou said the parties might reach a compromise in avoiding a by-election. He said many of the parties were not open to going to elections.
“Tshwane’s citizens are the victims of a failed coalition; they lived in confusion due to ever-changing leadership as meetings could not take place to pass budgets, streetlights were not working in town and experienced mismanaged government.
“When they hear all of this [postponement], they should be worried that we may be heading for what happened the previous time.”
Ndou said the coalition government situation was a result of how residents voted.
“Leaders must do citizens a favour and ensure there is governance and provide good service delivery.”
Should parties fail to meet for their first council meeting by Tuesday, then the metro would have to report this to the Independent Election Commission (IEC).
“To hold another election would be the last option for the IEC,” Ndou said.
“The parties need to do their best and develop a programme that will serve residents.”
Don’t tell me about principles. Whose principles? We differ in what we believe in as people. I’m in these coalition talks for power sharing and not principle sharing. We want power because your principles haven’t built houses and given jobs
— Gayton McKenzie (@GaytonMcK) November 16, 2021
[MUST WATCH]: CIC @Julius_S_Malema emphasizing that the EFF stance on Africans remains. We are for one Africa and we can't unite it by diving it.
One Africa ✊🏿 pic.twitter.com/xnYWYEMxB2
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) November 17, 2021
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