The DA leader in the Eastern Cape, Nqaba Bhanga, is so eager to unseat Nelson Mandela Bay metro mayor Mongameli Bobani of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) that he is willing to replace him with an ANC mayor.
Bhanga said his party had reached out to the ANC and was prepared to hand over power to the party. This signals a new approach for the party, which campaigned hard to ensure the ANC did not return to power.
Bobani became mayor last year when Julius Malema's EFF ganged up with the ANC and toppled the DA's Athol Trollip.
Bhanga said he had held talks with the ANC leadership in the Eastern Cape. Should he fail to strike a deal with smaller opposition parties to bring back Trollip, he is prepared to "put DA votes on the table".
He said his first goal "is to take over government with smaller parties, but if that does not work, we will be prepared to put our votes on the table. I am very serious about it," said Bhanga.
He said the ANC wanted the council to be dissolved but the DA is against that.
Bhanga said service delivery, poor governance and killings linked to a wrongly awarded municipal contract motivated him to work with the ANC in the metro.
"I want Bobani out by the 30thof June," said Bhanga.
The municipality again failed to pass a budget this week, amid speculation that the ANC wanted it placed under administration.
Trollip, the party's national chair, disagreed with Bhanga's stance. "If we can't get enough support from other political parties, we are not going to assist them to put another coalition together," he said.
Eastern Cape ANC secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi said the party had received a request for a meeting to discuss the matter.
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