Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen says they have lost trust in small parties at Nelson Mandela Bay Metro in the Eastern Cape.
Steenhuisen was speaking following the recent removal of Mayor Retief Odendaal.
Odendaal was removed through a motion of no confidence brought by the African National Congress (ANC) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) coalition. He lost to Gary van Niekerk of the Northern Alliance by nine votes.
Steenhuisen doesn’t believe that the new coalition will be sustainable.
He adds, “We have seen now how untrustworthy this one band of small parties, so voters need to think carefully before they vote. This is the same party that came to us a month ago begging us to help remove it from the power they have now switched sides for the third time and try and put back the ANC, I don’t think that will work.”
Earlier, Steenhuisen called for political unity in the embattled Thabazimbi municipality in Limpopo, while speaking at the DA’s Limpopo Provincial Congress in Polokwane.
The municipality has been dysfunctional due to infighting between the ANC and the DA-led coalitions.
The Democratic Alliance Limpopo Provincial Elective Conference is under way in Polokwane, Limpopo
Steenhuisen says both the DA and ANC need to work together to deliver services to the people.
“It is very difficult there with the electoral configuration to bring the stability that’s needed there but we are continuously trying to bring that stability to place a government that focuses on the people. The instability is affecting the people on the ground because you have a government that focuses more on surviving rather than how it will delivers. So, I will urge all parties in that council to work together and remember, we are elected to serve the people not ourselves,” he says.
