EFF leader Julius Malema says his party will defend the ANC in Gauteng against the DA because of the position they took of not working with the DA in the province.
“If the ANC comes and the DA wants to oppose them, we will defend the ANC in Gauteng because of the stance they took. What they did was an act of defiance to this nonsensical neo-liberal coalition lead by the DA. This is not by the ANC; Hellen Zille is the craftor of everything that is happening here,” Malema said.
He added that the ANC should have opted for a minority government if it did not want to work with the progressive forces, instead of deciding to jump into bed with what he called reactionary forces.
The leader of the Red Berets, however, said the EFF did not have any arrangement with the ANC or any party in Gauteng. Both the ANC provincial leadership and the DA did not see eye to eye on how the Provincial Government Of Unity (PGU) should be constituted.
The DA in the province wanted Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi to appoint his executive based on the agreement signed by the statement of intent which suggested that the appointment of executive should be done based on proportionality.
Lesufi did not agree to the DA’s proposal in the province, a move that saw the DA in the province choosing to stay in the opposition benches.
This left the ANC in a predicament position as it was now a minority government which would depend on other parties for support when it came to passing legislation.
Prior to the establishment of the GPU, the EFF had proposed that the ANC should reinstate Nkululeko Dunga as Ekurhuleni MMC for Finance if they wanted them to co-govern.
The ANC axed Dunga in June. The party had been at loggerheads with the EFF in Ekurhuleni, although the mayor, Doctor Xhakaza, said the decision was taken to fast-track the completion and approval of the annual budget.
The relationship between the ANC and EFF seems to be strained, as the EFF, who are in a coalition with the ANC in the City of Johannesburg, rejected taking a R2.5 billion loan from a French government entity, the Agence Française de Développement, which was aimed at helping the City run its day to day operations.
Finance MMC Dada Morero had proposed and asked the councillors to support the loan to keep the City afloat and ensure that service delivery commitments were met.
According to insiders in the ANC, this was in retaliation for Dunga’s axing.
It has been reported that EFF MMCs in Johannesburg are likely to be booted out following this incident as the ANC and DA continue to strengthen ties.
This decision will be endorsed by the ANC’s Johannesburg region, which also wants to use this opportunity to remove the city’s mayor, Al Jama-ah’s Kabelo Gwamanda and replace him with Finance MMC Dada Morero.
When asked about this development in Gauteng municipalities, Malema said parties that wanted to remove EFF councillors as MMCs could go ahead and do that, as the party did not have any arrangement with political parties in the metros. | The Star