Coalition shift could give EFF metro

[schumi]

A realignment in coalitions could give the EFF its first municipality and strip the ANC of its last Gauteng metro.

The 2016 local government elections ushered in an era of coalitions that had previously been largely limited to KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

While the EFF has caused a stir in Parliament, it underperformed in the 2016 local polls. However, it did secure enough seats to play kingmaker and has helped the DA gain control of two key Gauteng metros: Johannesburg and Tshwane.

It appears it is time for the DA to return the favour.

A special council meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday at Metsimaholo Local Municipality in the Free State, where a motion of no confidence is likely to be brought against its mayor, Sello Hlasa — the leader of the Metsimaholo Community Association. Metsimaholo was finely split between political parties in 2016 and was eventually run by an opposition coalition.

The ANC obtained 19 seats, the DA 12 seats, the EFF got eight seats and the community association received two. The EFF voted with the association and gave it the mayoral seat. The DA was given the speaker position.

However, Hlasa is alleged to have subsequently aligned himself with the ANC. He did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

ANC Free State secretary William Bulwane has denied this, but said a meeting with the association was scheduled for this weekend.

According to sources in the municipality, the DA was likely to vote in support of an EFF mayoral candidate to replace Hlasa should the motion of no confidence succeed next week. This followed talks between the DA and the EFF on Tuesday.

A by-election was also scheduled to take place on Wednesday, but EFF leader Julius Malema said at a media briefing on Monday that the mayor would be removed before the by-election.

This means the EFF will be governing its first municipality after it contested its first local election last year.

DA federal chairman James Selfe said "conversations with the EFF are ongoing" around the challenges in the municipality. He said a change in governance was likely but would not elaborate on the details.

More at: https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/politics/2017-01-25-coalition-shift-could-give-eff-metro/

 

[schumi]

ANC to oppose EFF's bid to run Metsimaholo municipality

Johannesburg - The ANC and a junior coalition partner in the Metsimaholo municipality have vowed to oppose the EFF’s planned takeover of the Free State municipality.

The Metsimaholo Community Association (MCA) got the mayorship position after forming a coalition government with the DA, with the EFF’s backing, following last year’s local government elections. The DA took the speaker and council whip positions.

The coalition collapsed and the EFF had called for a vote of no confidence against mayor and MCA leader Sello Hlasa. The motion would be put forward during a special council sitting on Tuesday.

The EFF had accused Hlasa of not working for the community and collaborating with the ANC.

It wanted the Metsimaholo municipality to be the first it governed. After the August 3 local government elections, the EFF said it would not form coalitions with the DA, but vote with the party in those municipalities where the ANC failed to win an outright majority.

In Metsimaholo the ANC won 19 seats, which were reduced to 18 following the resignation of a councillor. The DA got 12 seats, the EFF eight, the MCA two, and the FF Plus one.

Business Day reported on Wednesday that, according to sources in the municipality, the DA was likely to support an EFF candidate to replace Hlasa should the motion of no confidence succeed. It quoted DA federal chairman James Selfe as saying "conversations with the EFF are ongoing". He said a change in governance was likely, but would not elaborate.

On Monday, EFF leader Julius Malema said they wanted to run the municipality to gain experience and develop a track record to use in their campaign for the 2019 national elections.

“We have said to the DA, when we take over government in Metsimaholo, we want to be the government alone. We don’t want a coalition. We want the DA to vote for the EFF government in Metsimaholo in the same way we did with them here. We’re going to run a successful municipality,” he said.

The MCA said it would try and keep the mayorship position after attempts to smooth relations with the EFF failed.

“The numbers will fight for us. We are now up in arms, we will do everything to emerge victorious,” MCA spokesperson Victor Nyembe said.

Neither the ANC nor the MCA would say if they would join forces to defeat the proposed motion.

The ANC described the vote of no confidence as “desperate shenanigans of people who want to lead via the back door”.

“We disagree with the motion of no confidence as a matter of principle. We supported that mayor and worked with him in the interest of strengthening the municipality so that the ANC’s legacy of a good track record in delivery of services is not disrupted,” provincial spokesperson Thabo Meeko told News24.

Parties were campaigning hard ahead of a by-election on Wednesday. The EFF had dispatched its spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi to the municipality, which includes Sasolburg. The ANC’s provincial executive members would arrive in the municipality on Sunday.

News24
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/N...-bid-to-run-metsimaholo-municipality-20170127

 

[MrGray]

So glad I didn't vote for the DA this time round. At least I have a clean conscience in that I did not support a party that thinks it's a good idea to make politically expedient deals with a bunch of extremists whose stated intent is to forcibly seize everything I own and basically eradicate people like me from the continent.

 

[Thor]

So glad I didn't vote for the DA this time round. At least I have a clean conscience in that I did not support a party that thinks it's a good idea to make politically expedient deals with a bunch of extremists whose stated intent is to forcibly seize everything I own and basically eradicate people like me from the continent.

This. I'm losing faith in the DA

 

[grok]

Still, moaning over the EFF getting one is far outweighed by laughter over the ANC losing its last one.

From nambawan to numbafokol, no wonder Zuma laughs so much, funniest thing ever..

 

[3WA]

You can't hate on the DA and EFF for forming these coalitions. Everything you see in the news about ANC infighting is caused by the loss of metros to the "coalitions". Whether it's the NEC debating Zuma recall or the ANC parliamentarians talking sense in an ANC led enquiry into the SABC against a deployed cadre, it would not be happening if they didn't lose power. The nuclear deal would already be signed, the Gupta uranium already purchased, and Finance Minister Brian Molefe already throwing money into the bottomless pit if the ANC still held those metros.

The only reason some of them woke up (Mthembu, Nxesi, Ramaphosa, Mantashe) is cause they scared of getting macked the same way in 2019. And most of them are unemployable outside the ANC.

In any case, if you don't like coalitions, you shouldn't be voting DA. Noone in his right mind sees an outright victory for the DA anywhere outside the Western Cape in the next ten years. Coalitions all the way.

 

[Oppiekoffie]

Watch in the next couple of years, no months Old Sasolburg turn into a dump if its not already one. Watch it cease to exist as a town.

 

[ɹǝuuᴉM]

People, you can complain as much ad you want about the twisted politics in your country but one thing stands out: This populist EFF party - they come from nowhere and after their first local election .... boom ! They govern.

 

[3WA]

People, you can complain as much ad you want about the twisted politics in your country but one thing stands out: This populist EFF party - they come from nowhere and after their first local election .... boom ! They govern.

Don't worry too much about it. Assume two thirds of the electorate are idiots. The best possible thing that can happen is that the idiot vote gets split between two parties at one third each, while the informed third of the electorate can give a fighting chance to a third party.

 

[access]

our politics is irrational, full of emotion. its a religion for some. facts mean nothing.

i dont agree with the eff or juliass most of the time, they keep stirring with white this black that, of course everyone will get their tails up.

the da made a deal however, they must honor it and make sure it does not come back to bite them.

 

[Hamster]

This. I'm losing faith in the DA

So glad I didn't vote for the DA this time round. At least I have a clean conscience in that I did not support a party that thinks it's a good idea to make politically expedient deals with a bunch of extremists whose stated intent is to forcibly seize everything I own and basically eradicate people like me from the continent.

And if they don't collaborate with these extremists they lose PTA and JHB and give it all back to the ANC.

 

[3WA]

And if they don't collaborate with these extremists they lose PTA and JHB and give it all back to the ANC.

This. Even the Western Cape, where they now have 66%, started with a tenuous six-party coalition in Cape Town in 2006.

 

[Jase]

I for one am curious to see the EFF run a municipality. I would like to see what they will actually do vs what they have said they will do.

 

[access]

I for one am curious to see the EFF run a municipality. I would like to see what they will actually do vs what they have said they will do.

me too, but i really dont want people to suffer because what could be seen as an experiment or a trial run .

 

[Jase]

me too, but i really dont want people to suffer because what could be seen as an experiment or a trial run .

Aye, there is that.

 

[MrR]

So glad I didn't vote for the DA this time round. At least I have a clean conscience in that I did not support a party that thinks it's a good idea to make politically expedient deals with a bunch of extremists whose stated intent is to forcibly seize everything I own and basically eradicate people like me from the continent.

Take emotion out of the context, take a step back and see that it is a viable solution for them in the short term. My enemy's enemy and all that.

Their (both DA and EFF) short game and resultant "victories" is evident, but I wonder how much thought has gone into the long game. Regardless of what happens at next elections, what happens thereafter?

I for one am curious to see the EFF run a municipality. I would like to see what they will actually do vs what they have said they will do.

Same here. I said in a thread a few years back that they should get a portfolio and prove to the nation what they are capable of. Let the results (facts) speak for themselves.

Of course, it is a double edged sword...

 

[air]

And if they don't collaborate with these extremists they lose PTA and JHB and give it all back to the ANC.

+1 ****ing one, look at the bigger picture, without these coalitions, they would not have the metros they currently have.

 

[rietrot]

me too, but i really dont want people to suffer because what could be seen as an experiment or a trial run .

They shouldn't be able to screw up to badly. Running a municipality is just getting the basic services done and all 3 of them have the same policies of more money to the poor. The DA will still be there to make sure the buget stay sort of balanced. No one is letting the EFF just go crazy it is a coalition they'll have to work together.

 

[Tikkop]

So glad I didn't vote for the DA this time round. At least I have a clean conscience in that I did not support a party that thinks it's a good idea to make politically expedient deals with a bunch of extremists whose stated intent is to forcibly seize everything I own and basically eradicate people like me from the continent.

Politics and pragmatism go hand-in-hand. A pragmatic approach that leads to the greater good of society outweighs your individual principles of right and wrong.

 

[BBSA]

So glad I didn't vote for the DA this time round. At least I have a clean conscience in that I did not support a party that thinks it's a good idea to make politically expedient deals with a bunch of extremists whose stated intent is to forcibly seize everything I own and basically eradicate people like me from the continent.

Keep voting as you did if you enjoy the corupt ANC rule.