DA collapses talks and risks Joburg back to the ANC/EFF again
5 May 2023
Last night a meeting was held in which the group of parties united behind ActionSA’s Funzi Ngobeni for Joburg Mayor (ActionSA, IFP, FF Plus, ACDP and UIM) met with the DA and the PA.
The meeting was requested by this group of parties because of an appreciation that the efforts to replace the ANC and EFF in Joburg can only succeed if these parties, collectively, rally behind a single candidate capable of achieving a majority. Our joint letter to the DA can be found here.
The DA used the opportunity to push for their own candidate, Mpho Phalatse, but announced conditions they required from the PA prior to the PA supporting a DA candidate. It has never been the case that a party imposes conditions on another party’s support, and it seemed as if these conditions were imposed with the intention of creating a deadlock in talks.
When the PA refused to accept these conditions, it became apparent that there was no road to a majority of support for Phalatse’s candidature (even with the support of ActionSA, IFP, VF Plus, ACDP and UIM).
At this point all former coalition partners confirmed their willingness to support ActionSA’s candidate, Funzi Ngobeni. This included the PA confirming that they would be open to supporting Ngobeni. With Ngobeni being supported by ActionSA, IFP, FF Plus, ACDP, UIM and potentially the PA, the DA possessed the required seats to give his candidature a majority and to keep the ANC and EFF out of Joburg. They refused.
It is apparent from the DA’s actions of the past two weeks that there was no real intention to build a majority behind the former multi-party coalition. At a time in which they are announcing moonshot pacts to stop theoretical ANC/EFF governments in 2024, they have proven unwilling to lift a finger to stop an actual ANC/EFF government here in Joburg.
Perhaps most disturbing is how the DA has deemed the residents of Joburg to be expendable for their regional Western Cape politics. The issue of the PA and how they coalesce is predominantly in the Western Cape and has absolutely no bearing on the residents of Joburg.
The DA’s imposition of conditions upon the PA is all about how they position the PA in the Western Cape and ignores the fact that the PA were at the table in Joburg (for a second time in 4 months) to restore the coalition in Joburg.
The bottomline in these events, is that the DA has collapsed a legitimate and real moonshot pact opportunity to keep the ANC and EFF out of Joburg. When it emerged that the only pathway to do so was to support another coalition partner, in the form of ActionSA, they opted rather for the return of the ANC and EFF.
At a further meeting last night it was confirmed that ActionSA, IFP, FF Plus, ACDP and UIM will stand together today for a united multi-party coalition that lives up to a commitment to remove and replace ANC governments.
While we all stand ready to do so, the DA insists on standing alone in a country where increasingly the measure of a party will be its ability to collaborate to provide an alternative to the challenges facing all South Africans.
Issued by Michael Beaumont, ActionSA National Chairperson, 5 May 2023
