Top ANC leaders have threatened to dump the party in numbers should it go into a coalition with the DA.
The ANC, having experienced an unprecedented electoral defeat, now faces the unenviable task of seeking coalition partners to run the central government.
Sunday World understands that at least five ministers are also part of the group expected to resist a partnership with the DA – a move said to be championed by ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa’s close allies.
Three independent sources within the ANC have confirmed that some senior party leaders have made it known that should the party decide to form a coalition with the DA, they will resign. “This isn’t a threat but a matter of political principle. A lot of councillors are going to resign in numbers, forcing us to go into by-elections, where we are going to be humiliated even further,” one of our moles said.
According to the dominant view of party insiders and allies who spoke to this publication, a coalition with the DA would be a kiss of death.
“As a liberation movement, we can’t go to bed with apartheid collaborators and benefactors, no matter how desperate we can be. A coalition with the DA would be a final nail in our coffin,” an ANC senior leader who asked not to be named said yesterday.
The member of the national executive committee also questioned why Ramaphosa has not reprimanded his close allies, certain ANC national executive committee members, over allegations that they were secretly discussing a potential coalition with the DA.
“There’s no ANC decision to talk with the DA for a coalition, and we have asked several times who gave [them] a mandate to do so but received no answer.”
Another source said one of the leaders was already lobbying ANC provincial leaders to support the marriage with the DA when the discussion gets tabled before the party’s national executive committee, which was expected to start last night, adding that he had specifically asked for the support of a senior Limpopo leader.
A senior NEC member rubbished the allegations of coalition negotiations. “There is no such. That is a pure lie because that space belongs to the president and the SG; we will be guided by them, so that is just gossip without basis.”
Another NEC member denied the allegations. “There’s no such a thing, lulwimi etywaleni (it is all lies),” he said.
Another NEC member said the ANC ought to show humility and offer an apology to former president Jacob Zuma. “As the ANC, we had the opportunity to engage with the apartheid regime, discuss our country’s future, and even extend forgiveness through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission process. What would prevent us from forming a coalition with Zuma?”
“It is better the devil we know than the one we don’t, and we also think we should also reach out to EFF leader Julius Malema because having the EFF on board as well would give us a two-thirds majority.
“Zuma isn’t against the ANC, but certain leaders within the party. The biggest fear the ANC has is that Zuma is likely to say that president Ramaphosa must resign first if we want to have a coalition discussion with him, which poses a very serious challenge politically and otherwise,” explained the NEC member.
A Sunday World source said the ANC leadership needed honest introspection. “We were arrogant because we had the power and took our people for granted. It has been 30 years, and, truth be told, we have done too little for the citizens, but everything for ourselves.
“The factions within the ANC started when some of our comrades said enough is enough and we must start to account for our actions. Then some of the comrades said, ‘Get lost; it’s our time to eat and continue looting with impunity’ because they are protected,” he said.
Many ANC members believe a coalition with the DA will open the doors for the opposition leader, John Steenhuisen, to become deputy president.
“I would rather have Malema as a deputy president than Steenhuisen,” a top-seven official said.
In Gauteng, the governing party is expected to counter the DA lobby with an alternative rather than go into bed with the IFP if the EFF and MK options are deemed despicable.
The ANC must just step aside so they can regroup, renew and come back strongly in the next 5 years, otherwise this will be the beginning of the end of this once glorious movement
👍
Mr nkuna I support you 💯
” A Sunday World source said the ANC leadership needed honest introspection. “We were arrogant because we had the power and took our people for granted. It has been 30 years, and, truth be told, we have done too little for the citizens, but everything for ourselves.
“The factions within the ANC started when some of our comrades said enough is enough and we must start to account for our actions. Then some of the comrades said, ‘Get lost; it’s our time to eat and continue looting with impunity’ because they are protected,” he said ” 💯
The anc didn’t do anything in this country after Mandela Who knows the Da can restore it to if former glory