Horse-trading hots up in hung municipalities
IF THE ANC was able to negotiate with the apartheid-era National Party for the formation of a government of national unity, there was nothing stopping it now from doing the same with the EFF, said ANC provincial secretary Super Zuma.
Zuma said the party was holding meetings with the EFF, DA and IFP, looking for partners in seven municipalities which were left hung as neither the IFP nor the ANC won them outright during the local government elections.
The EFF previously made it clear that it would not even bother to negotiate a coalition government with the ANC and there has been bad blood between the arch-rivals.
Early this week, EFF provincial chairman Vulani Ndlovu softened his party’s stance when he said the party would negotiate with the ruling party only if at the national level it was open to discussing expropriation of mines and land without compensation, land redistribution, free education, and abolition of the tender system, which are the basis of EFF policy.
“Nothing can stop us from negotiating with the EFF, if we were able to negotiate with the National Party, people who killed us, for the formation of the Government of National Unity.
“For the sake of the people of South Africa we will negotiate with anyone,” said Zuma.
He said while the EFF had made its demands clear, the ANC had its own issues since “the nature of negotiations are about give and take”.
“Yes, we are negotiating. Some of the negotiations are at an advanced stage,” he said.
“We are not going to engage with them through the media.
“When we are done with negotiations we will be able to go public.”
The hung municipalities are Abaqulusi, Jozini, Endumeni, eDumbe, Mtshezi and Mbabazane, where the ANC failed to win with an outright majority.
The IFP failed to completely win Nquthu and Mtubatuba.
Mbabazane and Jozini were under administration before the elections.
IFP national chairman Blessed Gwala said the IFP was in negotiations, but declined to disclose the details.
“We do not pre-empt discussions while we are behind closed doors with other political parties. Even after finalising the discussion we will need to talk to the national executive committee before we can say anything.”
Gwala said he would have to be a sangoma to predict when the discussions would be finalised.
The DA also confirmed that it had been approached for talks.