DA leader John Steenhuisen has revealed that his party is willing to enter into negotiations about forming coalition governments with any political party other than the EFF after next week’s elections.
In an interview with the Sunday Times this week, Steenhuisen said the DA is also willing to work with the ANC in all municipalities except the Nelson Mandela Bay metro.
The DA runs the City of Tshwane metro with the EFF. It also controlled Johannesburg through the same arrangement before the departure of Herman Mashaba from the party and as mayor two years ago.
These revelations mean that, should no party get a majority in these metros, the ANC would have the advantage of choosing whether it gets into bed with the DA or the EFF.
The DA approach to coalitions is in contrast with its election message, which criticises the ANC government and its failures in local government.
“If we have a common programme of action then I think we can [enter into coalitions]; we are willing to talk to any of those parties. The EFF doesn’t share those values — it is absolutely, implacably opposed to nonracialism. It is implacably opposed to a social market system. It wants state control, so it would automatically rule them out from the get-go,” said Steenhuisen.
“But there are other parties in the spectrum that we would be more than willing to be prepared to go into government with. But what I am not going to do is to go into government with parties that end up compromising our values. Because if you end up governing and you are governing badly, it damages your brand.”
The relationship between the DA and the EFF soured in 2018 when the EFF pushed for the sacking of Athol Trollip, who was mayor in Nelson Mandela Bay.
Steenhuisen said that if the DA cannot find a party that shares its values, it will sit on the opposition benches.
He said the party had a good chance of getting its own majority in Nelson Mandela Bay, but there were other smaller parties such as the UDM, ACDP and cultural organisations with which it could form a government, without the ANC.
He singled out former ANC councillor Andile Lungisa as one of his main problems with the party in the region.
“Certainly what we won’t be doing is sitting in a government with Andile Lungisa, because then what are you doing? You are in government, but you are having to share government with people who are corrupt,” said Steenhuisen.
ANC head of elections Fikile Mbalula said his party will leave discussions about coalitions to the outcome of the elections. “We are working flat out not to get to a point where we have to look into coalitions, because coalitions have not worked in terms of governance. They have not worked in Gauteng, particularly in Joburg, and they did not work in Pretoria and Gqeberha,” he said.
EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu declined to comment.
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