Talks between three main political parties and smaller ones have ground to a halt after days of negotiations.
This became apparent yesterday when two main parties – the EFF as kingmakers in major hung metros – and the DA gave updates, effectively saying there were no agreements signed.
This week has been seen as crunch week as political parties needed to agree on terms for coalitions as councils are expected to convene and elect new leaders.
There is nowhere in the 66 municipalities that the EFF is going to vote with the ANC, party leader Julius Malema said yesterday, making it clear the red berets had resolved to stop coalition discussions with the ANC.
Malema said none of the EFF councillors would vote with the ANC or DA but rather would ensure meetings quorate. “We are going to participate in metros fully. Ours is to ensure a quorum is reached and what they do afterwards is their business,” he said.
Malema accused the ANC of only being interested in dishing out positions. "It's the ANC's arrogance that lead to us walking away. They refused to talk about genuine issues and instead wanted to just talk about positions and who would share power. There was no willingness to discuss principles and the demands that we had made non-negotiable.
“Even when offered opportunities to come up with alternatives, the ANC was not interested,” Malema said.
In a letter sent to the EFF last week which Sowetan has seen, ANC acting secretary-general Jessie Duarte wrote: "You are aware that we have worked with you on the amendment of section 25... we are committed to engaging on any proposals to ensure progress on this very important matter."
Despite ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba publicly denouncing working with the EFF, Malema said they would remain patient as Mashaba was "politically illiterate".
“There’s no insistence of working with Mashaba. But we can’t constitute a government in Johannesburg successfully without him. In turn he would assist us in Tshwane and that way, this alliance keeps the Afrikanerdom of the DA and VF Plus out of power,” he said.
Malema said none of its councillors would support the ANC, however, Sowetan understands both parties had reached an agreement prior to the EFF’s briefing that would see the red berets occupy the positions of council chief whip and speaker in Nelson Mandela Bay.
In turn, the EFF would have supported the ANC and voted in its mayor.
The DA has also admitted that winning Joburg has now become difficult as the Patriotic Alliance (PA) with eight seats in the metro has jumped into bed with the ANC.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said they will continue negotiating with other parties, with the exception of the ANC and the EFF, in an attempt to constitute coalition governments.
He slammed PA leader Gayton McKenzie's approach to their meeting and described his announcement as something that "obviously makes the path narrower for the opposition to be able to form a block there".
"And it's quite odd because yesterday was the first engagement we've been involved with the PA, we certainly did not take the positions off the table but we start from a principle basis first, let's agree on what we want to achieve in these municipalities," Steenhuisen said.
On Monday night, McKenzie described the deal his party had clinched with the ANC after tough days of coalition negotiations as the biggest power-sharing agreement that has ever existed in the history of SA.
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