ActionSA KwaZulu-Natal leader Zwakele Mncwango says they are open to talks with any party in coalition negotiations.
As political parties begin coalition negotiations, ActionSA could emerge as the kingmaker in eThekwini Municipality, with the party claiming that no bloc of parties could form a government without it.
The municipality is one of several hung municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal. The results indicated that ActionSA had won close to 3% of the vote in eThekwini and could swing the outcome of a leadership contest either way, particularly if the ANC and MK Party found themselves on opposing sides.
The MK Party was leading in eThekwini with 38% of the vote, followed by the DA on 25%, the ANC on 16%, the IFP on 7%, ActionSA on about 3% and the EFF with 1.6%. By midday yesterday, each of the remaining parties had secured less than 1%.
Political analysts said ActionSA would be key to forming a government and that the likely government would consist of the GNU partners together with ActionSA. The audited results, including the allocation of seats, were expected to be released this evening.
ActionSA’s KwaZulu-Natal party leader, Zwakele Mncwango, said the party had grown. “We have grown from four councillors to seven councillors. There is no bloc in eThekwini that will be able to form a government without ActionSA,” he said.
Mncwango said there had been no formal coalition talks. “There have been corridor discussions, but there has not been anything formal as yet.”
He said the party would engage with all parties and align itself with those that agreed with its negotiation framework.
“What we ask is not something that any reasonable party could object to. Our negotiation framework states that we want service delivery for all communities in eThekwini, corruption to be addressed and a plan to deal with illegal migration in eThekwini,” he said.
“As the kingmaker, it is not us who will be negotiating with the other parties; they will be coming to us to ask to form a government,” he said.
The DA announced yesterday that its Federal Executive had resolved to engage all political parties in coalition discussions about governing municipalities.
The DA’s provincial leader, Sithembiso Ngema, said the Federal Executive would make the final decision on coalition talks.
“What they have given us is the right to put out feelers to like-minded parties to see whether it is possible to work together. Once that is done, we will make a recommendation on the parties with which we believe it is possible to work,” he said.
He said the DA would not waste time engaging with the MK Party or the EFF.
“The EFF is almost non-existent, and the MK Party is plagued by so many problems that we believe could lead to an unstable situation in the municipality,” he said.
“eThekwini has a R75 billion budget. How can you trust someone who cannot manage their own finances with such a budget? We simply do not believe that they would be capable of managing it.”
Ngema, however, emphasised the importance of engaging with all parties, given that the vote was concentrated among six parties.
“The mistake one could make is to leave someone out because they have small numbers and not engage with them. By doing that, you could leave out a very capable person in a smaller party who could make a serious contribution to the municipality,” he said.
The EFF has already called for the ANC, MK Party and EFF to work together.
The MK Party also announced that its negotiating team would be led by Duduzane Zuma, Tony Yengeni, Apostle Mxolisi Phakathi and Lindi Mtshali.
Willies Mchunu, a member of the team leading the MK Party’s negotiations, said the framework for negotiations was being set at national level.
“All I can say at this moment is that the work is continuing,” he said.
IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the party was focused on the counting stage, as there were disputes that had not been resolved across the country. He added that the party’s leadership would meet today to formulate a team to lead the negotiations.
Political analyst Professor Musa Xulu said possible coalition outcomes in eThekwini could include the DA, ANC, IFP, ActionSA and other smaller political parties.
“It is worth noting that, due to its reputation and dictatorial tendencies, there is a general reluctance among political parties to form coalitions with the MK Party. This is also due to its internal instability and general disregard for the law,” he said.
“The ANC would be committing suicide if it were to form a coalition with the MK Party, given the manner in which Zuma has been determined to exterminate the ANC over the past couple of years.”
Key corrections include fixing missing spaces after full stops, changing “in the KwaZulu-Natal” to “in KwaZulu-Natal,” standardising “Sithembiso Ngema,” clarifying ActionSA’s KwaZulu-Natal leader, and adding the missing closing quotation mark at the end.