DA leaves door open to ANC coalitions, but no chance for EFF deal

DA Johannesburg candidate Helen Zille has left the door open to a possible coalition arrangement with the ANC, saying the party will consider all options if it fails to secure an outright majority in municipalities across the country.

But she has drawn a firm line against any arrangement that depends on the EFF to keep a minority coalition in power, warning that the DA would rather go into opposition than enter what she described as an unworkable coalition.

Speaking to the media at Emmarentia Primary School voting station in Johannesburg on Wednesday morning, Zille said the DA was still hoping to secure a clear majority, but would have to consider alternatives if voters did not give it an outright mandate.

“If we don’t get a clear majority, and I still hope and believe we can get a clear majority, but if we don’t, we’ll look at the different options of coalitions and take the least bad option,” she said.

READ: Momentum builds for ANC to dump DA after municipal elections

Her comments leave open the possibility of renewed cooperation with the ANC, despite tensions between the parties over their relationship in the government of national unity (GNU).

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said last month that the party needed to reconsider the DA’s role in the GNU, following the DA’s legal challenge over the ANC’s candidate nominations.

The dispute followed a Constitutional Court ruling in the ANC’s favour on the inclusion of its candidates on the ballot. Mbalula argued that the DA’s decision to challenge the nominations raised questions about its commitment to the principles underpinning the GNU.

However, ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa chose not to respond to the possibility of working with the DA when he was asked about the matter at the Hyde Park High School, where he cast his vote for the local government elections.

DA draws red line on EFF-backed coalitions

Zille did, however, highlight that the party is not keen on coalitions involving too many parties.

She said:

“I promise you, if we have to run a nine-party coalition in the City of Johannesburg, we will go into opposition, because that is ungovernability defined.”

“You cannot do it in a nine-party coalition that is still a minority coalition that depends on your arch-rivals to govern.”

Zille said the DA and EFF had fundamentally different political beliefs, accusing the EFF of supporting a system in which the state controls the economy and society. She said the DA believed in empowering people to create opportunities for themselves.

A decade of political friction

The two parties have had a turbulent relationship for a decade.

Following the 2016 local elections, the EFF did not enter a formal coalition but agreed to vote with the DA on an issue-by-issue basis. This allowed the DA’s Herman Mashaba to become Mayor of Johannesburg.

READ: EFF tells ANC again: It’s either us or the DA and FF Plus

The relationship officially fractured in 2019. This was after the DA refused to back the EFF’s demands to take mayoral seats in hung councils like Tshwane, EFF leader Julius Malema declared their voting pact “done and finished”.

The final blow in Johannesburg came when Herman Mashaba resigned as mayor in protest of Helen Zille being elected as the DA’s federal chairperson.

Water crisis tops mayoral agenda

Turning to the city’s service-delivery challenges, Zille identified access to safe water as her first priority if she became mayor.

She described the water shortages as a major crisis, saying some residents had been forced to buy water and that her immediate focus would be on mobilising resources to ease the situation.

“My first port of call is to organise resources to try and reduce the crisis,” she said.

Zille, who was born and raised in Johannesburg, said the DA had done everything it could during its election campaign, but that voters would ultimately decide the city’s future.

“In the end, it’s voters, the voters must decide whether they want to rescue the city,” she said.

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