VANDERBIJLPARK – The PAC has cut ties with the ANC in key municipalities.

This comes after the party accused the ANC of allegedly dragging governance into its internal factional battles. In what the PAC calls a “strategic and principled decision”, the party will begin its withdrawal at the Sedibeng District Municipality before turning its back on Emfuleni Local Municipality.

PAC’s Secretary General Apa Pooe said the decision was motivated by several reasons, including accusations that the ANC has turned municipalities into battlegrounds for internal power struggles.

“We can’t be associated with that. We want a stable government, particularly in Gauteng,” he said.

“We’ve seen what they are doing in Emfuleni. The municipality is completely dysfunctional, and they refuse to take advice. In Sedibeng, there was a suspended CFO who had attempted to increase his own pay, and the ANC insists on reinstating such people to positions of power,” he added.

“It’s our informed view that in Gauteng, the ANC is more interested in their factional challenges, to an extent that it’s transferred to municipalities and governance,” he said.

Asked why the PAC is acting now, Pooe said they tried unsuccessfully to resolve matters behind closed doors.

“Constructively, we thought we would be able to handle these issues maturely and constructively, but that has proven to fail. What further exacerbated the situation is what is happening in Johannesburg,” he said.

Sedibeng ANC spokesperson Mphikeleli Msibi said their party learned through social media about PAC cutting ties.

“We wish to inform the media that coalition agreements are dealt with by national and provincial leadership of concerned political parties.”

“Therefore, the regional executive committee will await the guidance from upper structures and will provide a way forward in due course,” he said.