Will the Eff-ANC coalition in the eThekwini metropolis crumble?
This question is expected to be answered on Wednesday when the DA, the main opposition party in the metro, tables a motion of no confidence against the ANC-led coalition government of eThekwini.
Section 34 of the Municipal Structures Act empowers the council to dissolve itself without seeking approval from the cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC.
The IFP, which wanted mayor Mxolisi Kaunda to resign through a vote of no confidence, was the driving force behind the previous motion.
Mayor survives
Kaunda narrowly escaped when 109 councillors voted against his removal while 98 were in favour of the motion.
“This follows relentless pressure from the DA and threats of legal action against the speaker of council, Thabani Nyawose, who tried to stall our duly submitted and legal motion,” said Thabani Mthethwa, the DA caucus leader in eThekwini.
“Since our motion was submitted, we have seen all kinds of theatrics from the ANC, EFF, and other opposition parties who have attempted to ridicule the legality of the motion.”
If the motion succeeds, it will enable fresh municipal elections in the metro.
The DA believes the political establishment has run the city to the ground, citing decaying infrastructure, endemic violent crime in the CBD, water woes, and the mushrooming of undocumented people and vagrants who have become a security threat as among the reasons that the council should be axed.
EFF support needed
The DA’s plan relies heavily on the support of the EFF, which controls the metro together with the ANC, NFP, and other smaller parties.
The red berets were also rewarded with a critical infrastructure portfolio, which controls a chunk of the city’s budget.
In an interview with Sunday World on Tuesday, EFF chairperson in KwaZulu-Natal, Mongezi Twala, said the party had no desire to join a “frivolous motion” seeking to overthrow a democratically elected government.
“There’s a constitution in this country. We are not going to allow a situation where any other political party wants to cling to power behind a backdoor,” Twala said.
“There must be a process whereby we satisfy ourselves that the city has come to a total collapse.”
While acknowledging that the metro was buckling under the weight of corruption and crumbling infrastructure, he claimed that the national government and Treasury could make interventions.
“We are not going to be coerced by the DA. We can’t allow the moonshot pact to come to power through the backdoor.
“Besides, the DA has made it very clear that, at no point, they will work with the EFF. One wonders where they think they will get the majority when they so passionately hate the EFF,” he said.
