The political realignment in the City of Ekurhuleni is gathering pace, with the fallout between the ANC and the EFF opening the door to a possible reconfiguration of power that could bring the DA into the governing arrangement.
Sunday World has reliably learnt that ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has been engaged in talks with the DA over a coalition shift in the metro. At the centre of the discussions is a proposal that would see the ANC withdraw its speaker to make way for a DA councillor, a move that would decisively alter the balance of power in council.
Highly placed insiders within the ANC’s Ekurhuleni regional executive committee (REC) say these behind-the-scenes negotiations explain the party’s measured response to the EFF’s decision to reject two mayoral committee positions offered by executive mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza.
“We have been speaking to the DA. We are waiting to hear whether they will accept the proposal,” a senior regional source told Sunday World.
A coalition between the DA and ANC as the dominant parties to take over the running of a metro would be unprecedented, less than a year before the local government elections. Although the two parties are the dominant partners in the government of national unity, they have never combined to run a metro.
There was drama on Tuesday when Xhakaza reshuffled the mayoral committee, giving the ANC four portfolios, reducing the EFF to only two, while lining up one for ActionSA’s Xolani Khumalo. The EFF, which previously had four portfolios, rejected the new arrangement. This effectively collapsed the ruling ANC-EFF-led coalition.
However, ActionSA has rejected the offer, putting the city’s governance in peril.
Publicly, ActionSA dismissed the offer, saying it was not prepared to associate itself with what it described as a dysfunctional and lawless local government. But ANC Ekurhuleni secretary Jongizizwe Dlabathi disputed that version.
Speaking at a briefing on Friday, Dlabathi alleged that ActionSA’s rejection was influenced by pressure from the EFF, with the red berets having allegedly threatened to remove ActionSA’s Nasiphi Moya as Tshwane mayor – where the EFF is the kingmaker in the coalition – should Khumalo accept the mayoral committee offer.
“That is the real reason that ActionSA, in our view, has suddenly made a U-turn,” Dlabathi said.
The ANC holds 86 seats and the DA 65 in Ekurhuleni, which would give their mooted coalition an unassailable majority of 151 seats in the 224-seat council.
The EFF has 33 seats, ActionSA 15, Freedom Front Plus 8 and the Patriotic Alliance 4.
The metro was controlled by the ANC between 2016 and 2021, but changed hands to a coalition fronted by the DA, with the support of the EFF in 2021 when the ANC lost its majority.
Tania Campbell of the DA only lasted two years in the mayoral seat before that coalition collapsed in March 2023.
Sivuyile Ngodwana of the African Independent Congress, which has three seats, took over in March 2023 but only lasted a year in the role. Xhakaza has been leading Ekurhuleni since April 2024 with the EFF’s support.
An ANC-DA tie-up in Ekurhuleni would be a game-changer, with some viewing it as likely to hold longer than coalitions formed by multiple parties
An ANC-DA pact in Ekurhuleni could be a pre-election test case for possible post-election coalition arrangements in other metros across the country should the two parties not secure outright majorities.
At the time of publication, Mbalula, Xhakaza and DA federal council chair Helen Zille had not responded to Sunday World enquiries about talks to possibly take over the running of Ekurhuleni.
On Friday, ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont, insisted there was never a formal agreement with the ANC in Ekurhuleni.
