The ANC and DA in the Eastern Cape held exploratory talks on the governance of Nelson Mandela Bay on Monday.
The indaba, in East London, was the first official meeting of the two parties since DA provincial leader Andrew Whitfield requested the discussions in a letter to premier and ANC provincial chair Oscar Mabuyane in August.
It came more than a month after the ANC declared it wanted the mayor’s seat in Nelson Mandela Bay.
The position is at present filled by Gary van Niekerk of the Northern Alliance, one of the members of a multiparty coalition, including the ANC, that runs the metro, while the DA and other parties are in opposition.
On Monday, DA provincial chair Yusuf Cassim met ANC provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi.
The discussions took place despite the ANC Youth League and Young Communist League SA in the Bay region issuing statements blasting a potential coalition involving the ANC and DA.
Ngcukayitobi said he and Cassim agreed on issues of principal after assessing the situation in the metro.
“There will be areas of difference but it was very few,” he said.
“The key thing is the [need to ensure the] collective stability of the city and for people to get the best quality services.
“Frankly, we talked about what needs to be done to arrest declines we have been observing because all of us said we are committed to bettering the situation.
“We agreed we can’t deal with details such as formation of a government but look at areas of commonality and areas of collaboration.
“In principle, we agreed to collaborate but could not concretise that because there are still grey areas.
“We agreed to go back to structures and get a firmer mandate.”
Ngcukayitobi said the ANC and DA would convene another meeting in the coming weeks.
Cassim described the meeting with the ANC as “exploratory talks and not coalition discussions”.
“We cannot keep doing the same things and expecting a different result and reshuffling the deck chairs won’t stop Nelson Mandela Bay from sinking further.
“We are not part of the current government but we are suffering not only as residents but the DA has ward councillors being blamed for failures of the current government.
“We have got an incentive to turn things about. We need to try to do something different.
“We have had DA-led coalitions on and off since 2016.
Cassim said the ANC was clear it was consulting other parties.
“One of the options considered is that the ANC and DA alone put together a coalition in the metro if it will arrest the [decay].
“The DA is not interested in a fractured government that cannot deliver services.
“We’re doing everything to avoid this current arrangement,” Cassim said.
On Sunday, ANCYL regional co-ordinator Yandisa Jubase said the 2024 national and provincial elections presented the ANC with a new challenge after its electoral support nationally declined to 40.2%.
“As a result, the ANC national executive committee (NEC) formed a government of national unity, a pledge to co-operate with political parties, including the DA, through a voluntary arrangement founded under what is called the statement of intent,” Jubase said.
“Politically, the youth league in the region characterises the GLU [government of local unity] as an attempt by the ANC REC [regional executive committee] to go to bed with the DA, a reactionary centre-right liberal [party] with neoliberal tendencies ...
“The ANC Youth League RTT wishes to caution the ANC against the formation of the GLU with the DA, as we observe that in its current form, the ANC in the region possesses no capacity to use the GLU arranged strategically to sway back its majority support while maintaining the political and ideological character of the [Tripartite] Alliance,” Jubase said.
Echoing his sentiments, Young Communist League SA district secretary Lwazi Qakala said unguided coalitions had proved to be unstable, focusing on departmental budgets rather than serving the people.
“We urge the ANC to abandon actions seeking DA inclusion in the executive through any coalition in our district.
“It is disheartening that the ANC failed to secure a majority in the local government elections in Govern Mbeki’s region.
“Collaborating with the DA in Nelson Mandela’s namesake region would be dishonourable.”
Responding to these warnings, Ngcukayitobi said the ANC’s provincial executive committee had consulted all structures in the metro, adding that the ANCYL was part of these meetings.
“The fact we consulted them was because we are stuck with a problem that things aren’t happening at the pace the ANC wants.”
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