Gauteng ANC mulling over coalition poser

JOHANNESBURG: The ANC is mulling over coalitions in the Tshwane, Joburg and Ekurhuleni metros following the party’s dismal performance in South Africa’s economic hub.

All three metros are hung, with no party having an outright majority, but the DA has a bigger share of the vote in Tshwane and the ANC bigger shares in the other two.

With the ANC losing Tshwane to the DA and only managing to hang on to Joburg and Ekurhuleni by a small margin, the Gauteng ANC leaders have renewed their calls for ANC President Jacob Zuma to step down as a crucial step while coalitions are fought over.

They believe he is “the elephant in the room” that cost them the votes, because of the ongoing corruption allegations and many scandals associated with his administration.

They also accused him of “messing up” their elections campaign because of his racially divisive statements about the DA.

Calls for Zuma’s head, along with the possible permutations of coalition governments, will be high on the agenda when the provincial executive council meets today.

Cape Times sister paper The Sunday Independent reported yesterday that there might be calls from within the ANC national executive committee (NEC) for an early or special conference where an “elegant exit” for Zuma should be finalised.

The election results announced by the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) confirmed that for the first time the ANC had failed to get more than 50 percent in the key Gauteng metros.

In Joburg, the ANC got 44.55 percent and the DA 38.37 percent (121 seats for the ANC, 104 for the DA).

In Tshwane, the DA got 43.11 percent and the ANC 41.22 percent (93 seats for the DA, 89 for the ANC).

In Ekurhuleni, the ANC got 48.64 percent and the DA 34.15 percent (109 seats for the ANC, 77 for the DA).

The Star spoke to three senior ANC leaders in Gauteng, who corroborated each other in their stance against Zuma and the permutations of
coalitions.

They blamed the divisions within the Gauteng leadership squarely on “Zuma’s dictatorship”.

He said while the issue of e-tolls remained problematic, Zuma was far too costly and had spoiled their campaign.

Gauteng ANC spokesperson Nkenke Kekana refused to comment on the enmity towards Zuma, saying he didn’t want to “speculate”.

While the poor performance has forced both the ANC and the DA to scramble for coalitions, Gauteng ANC leaders admitted this would by no means be an easy decision.

The first option would be a coalition of all major parties, “with a threshold of anything from all parties who got five percent of the votes”.

While the EFF looks like a viable option for the ANC, the sticking point was the 
acrimony between the red berets and the ANC’s national leadership.