EXCLUSIVE: ANC offers DA council speaker position in Ekurhuleni, sidelines EFF and ActionSA

TheANCin Ekurhuleni has offered the Democratic Alliance (DA) the position of council speaker before Thursday’s council sitting in the municipality. The council was expected to elect a new speaker after the previous one was moved to a member of the mayoral committee (MMC) position. The DA was considering accepting the position, given the working relationship the parties had at the national level through the government of national unity (GNU), sources told theMail & Guardian.

If the DA declined the position, the ANC could approach theAfrican Transformation Movementnext, they said. The ANC and smaller parties in the council would have enough votes to field their own candidate, one insider close to the matter said. “The 13 parties are giving the ANC a majority to govern without the DA, EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) and ActionSA combined,” the source said.

“The question remains whether the DA will join the Ekurhuleni government of local unity, side with the EFF andActionSAor remain neutral on an issue-by-issue basis.” Sources said the ANC reached out to several parties on Wednesday, including the EFF which insists that it wants the speaker position back. The EFF would field its own candidate for speaker position, EFF provincial leader Nkululeko Dunga told theM&G, insisting that the post rightfully belonged to the Red Berets under an earlier political agreement with the ANC. Dunga said the party would proceed with its candidate, regardless of whether the ANC supported the bid.

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“The EFF, as proclaimed by the commander-in-chief (Julius Malema) will be fielding a candidate for the speaker position tomorrow. Whether the council decides to support the EFF or not is immaterial at this point. But there was a common agreement with the ANC that the speaker position in the City of Ekurhuleni belongs to the EFF,” Dunga said.

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