The African National Congress (ANC) in Gauteng says despite losing the province’s metros to the Democratic Alliance (DA) and their possible coalition partnerships, the party will keep a close eye on service delivery performance.
The DA has won Gauteng’s three metropolitan areas, Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, with coalition agreements still being formalised.
The ANC’s Gauteng Secretary, Jacob Khawe, says losing big metros was a shock to some party members.
“ It was a big shock. It would be irresponsible for us to try and bring them down and we will look at the type of commitments they bring. We will assess the type of budgets they bring and the focus of their agenda. Once we are convinced that the focus is on servicing the people, we will make a contribution to support those efforts. But we think these coalitions are a continuation of 2016, we will not support that,” says Khawe.
SABC reporter Natasha Phiri on opposition parties grabbing control of some of SA’s main economic metros:
Chaotic five years
Political analysts say South Africa is likely to have a chaotic five years of local government because of how the political scenario has unfolded after the local government elections.
This comes as alliances among political parties have shifted in a matter of days.
The DA’s Dr Mpho Phalatse becomes the new Mayor of the City of Johannesburg. She won with 144 votes, while the ANC’s Mpho Moerane got 121 during voting at a council sitting.
This followed ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba’s withdrawal from the race for the position of mayor after coalition talks between his party and the DA collapsed.
Mashaba speaks on Gauteng’s new metro councils under the DA:
