ANC weighs up wooing the DA in Gauteng

TheANCin Gauteng is increasingly flirting with the idea of working with theDemocratic Alliance(DA) in the Gauteng provincial legislature, which could culminate in the parties working together in hung municipalities, especially Johannesburg andEkurhuleni. This comes as fears grow that the ANC might not be able to pass the budget tabled by Finance MECLebogang Mailein the legislature. Internal ANC and DA sources say ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula is open to the idea, with some leaders of the blue party also pushing for it.

The Gauteng government, led by Premier Panyaza Lesufi, is a minority government dependent on the uMkhonto weSizwe party and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to pass legislation in the legislature. With EFF leader Julius Malema announcing weeks ago that the party would not vote for anything proposed by the ANC across Gauteng, the ANC has started weighing its options of working with the DA. A senior leader in the ANC Gauteng told theMail & Guardianthat it was strange for DA Johannesburg mayoral candidateHelen Zilleto constantly attack Lesufi on service delivery issues in Gauteng while she was campaigning for the Johannesburg mayoral post.

“She is contesting for Johannesburg mayor but it seems she’s not really saying much about Dada [Morero]; her focus has been on Panyaza.” The source said it was also telling that the DA in Ekurhuleni did not put its hand up for the speaker position but chose to abstain from voting, resulting in the election of the African Transformation Movement’s John Senona. Another source said that working with the DA in the province would have benefited the party more than working with the EFF, the uMkhonto weSizwe party and minority parties. “If we had worked with the DA from the start in all these municipalities, things would have been much more stable because they would be focusing on their base and we would have been focusing on ours.” Another source in the ANC Gauteng said working with the DA in the province would stabilise municipalities. “With all these coalitions, there’s horse-trading and decisions are not easily taken, so if the DA and the ANC come together, even though we have differences, municipalities will stabilise.”