On 2 August 2022, the DA in KwaZulu-Natal, held a virtual townhall meeting with DA Federal Council Chairperson, Helen Zille, to outline to residents of the KwaDukuza municipality the current status of coalition discussions and the way forward.
At the meeting, the DA outlined our experience and track record in coalitions dating back to 2006, where Ms. Zille put together a seven-party coalition to become the Mayor of Cape Town.
The DA knows all too well the complexities and hard work that goes into making a coalition successful, having worked with other parties to form 19 coalition governments across the country since the elections in 2021.
Ms. Zille also took members of the public through the importance of the DA places on having a signed and agreed upon coalition agreement before any motion of no confidence can take place. The DA would not allow KwaDukuza to fall to an ANC administration because of the ensuing instability that would be created in the municipality without an agreement.
This concern and position has grown beyond the DA and now includes other political parties, which represent up to half of the coalition bloc in KwaDukuza. Therefore any motion of no confidence without a signed agreement is unlikely to find majority support amongst opposition parties.
The other major concern remains the status of the African Independence Congress (AIC) councillor who has been fired by their national structure, but who is apparently approaching the courts for relief. The AIC has been in coalition with the ANC up until now, giving them a majority. If the new AIC councillor is forced to remain loyal to the ANC, this may render the entire process moot as an opposition coalition would only have 29 seats – one seat short of a majority.
Lastly, the DA maintains the three “red line” issues over the “collaboration” with the EFF, allowing politicians to have influence over the appointment of municipal officials and a budget and steering committee outside of legislation must be resolved before a coalition is agreed to.
Once the coalition agreement has been signed and finalised, then we are confident a multi-party motion of no confidence can be brought to a KwaDukuza Council meeting, and which will receive support from all political parties.
Anything short of this logical, tried and tested approach is likely to put the municipality in danger of being placed under administration.
It remains our wish for parties to return to the negotiating table, as has been our stance and invitation since the 25th of July 2022.