The ANC's national working committee (NWC) is on Monday expected to discuss possible ways of pulling out of coalitions with the EFF and the Patriotic Alliance (PA) in Gauteng metros.
The Sunday Times understands this comes after the party’s national executive committee (NEC) last week resolved that its marriage with the EFF was damaging its image.
According to those who attended the meeting, a report by David Makhura recommending that the ANC consider ending its relationship with the EFF in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Mogale City and the West Rand was unanimously adopted.
The details are expected to be fleshed out when the NWC, which runs the day-to-day operations of the party on behalf of the NEC, meets on Monday.
Members of the NEC at the last meeting are said to have been unanimous in saying that the EFF was “fishing from the same pond” as the ANC, and that its main objective was “to unseat” the ruling party.
“It was a resolution, [which] will be discussed on Monday, that we should pull out of any coalition with the EFF and also with the Patriotic Alliance, which is a party led by former criminals that has taken a very strong stance against the Palestinian people,” said an NEC member.
The meeting is also said to have agreed with Makhura’s report, which the Sunday Times has seen, which says the EFF “has developed a long-term agenda and ambition to destroy, displace and replace the ANC as the leader of the transformation project”.
“It is for this reason that it will work with any reactionary force globally and domestically to remove the ANC from power,” Makhura’s report reads.
Makhura’s report also suggests that, among other concerns, the EFF does not meet the ANC’s requirements for coalitions, as it has no regard for good governance and supports the constitution and the law only if court decisions are in its favour.
“[The] ANC should review coalitions with the EFF, as these are more damaging than helpful. The EFF uses coalitions to contest the ANC’s social base and further damage its brand,” Makhura’s report says.
According to an insider, Gauteng premier and ANC provincial chair Panyaza Lesufi did not object to the decision that the ruling party should pull out of the coalitions.
Lesufi, along with ANC provincial secretary TK Nciza, negotiated the deals with the EFF and the PA that saw the ANC claw back most Gauteng municipalities.
“In the NEC, he has agreed — Panyaza did not oppose. He said if that’s the majority view, it’s [the] majority view. So it’s not about Panyaza — it’s about the organisation and the country, [and] whether he agrees or not, it’s not the issue,” the insider said.
The ANC was therefore likely to be back on the opposition benches by the time the festive season rolls around.
The insider said there were no plans for the ANC to have any discussions with the DA.
It was reported this week that the ANC and the DA were having secret talks that could see the two major parties sharing power after next year's elections.
The report suggested the ANC would get the executive while the DA would get the legislative arm of state.
The DA has since refuted these claims, saying it will not help keep the ANC in power.
“There is no way South Africa can survive the corruption and poor governance that characterises the ANC and the pursuit of its so-called national democratic revolution,” the DA’s spokesperson, Solly Malatsi, said.
A senior DA leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said any talks with the ANC would undermine what the DA was trying to achieve.
He said it would be very difficult to sell to the electorate the idea that the DA wanted to remove the ANC from power while the party was talking to them on the side at the same time.
“As far as I know, there’s a very big reluctance to make [even minor overtures] to the ANC ... because it’s bad business.”
Michael Beaumont, chair of ActionSA, said his party was very concerned about reports the DA was talking to the ANC. He would bring up this issue at the multiparty charter meeting scheduled for Thursday.
The multiparty charter has signed a declaration that none of its partners can negotiate with the ANC.
“I can confirm seeing the reports. I can confirm that we are very seriously concerned about what we’re reading, and that it is hard to take this out of [the] context of many, many public utterances made by the DA [about] their willingness to work with the ANC. We had to fight very hard for a multiparty charter that ruled out such [conduct], and this is why this revelation is of concern [to us]. We will engage on the issue,” said Beaumont.
The IFP’s Mkhuleko Hlengwa said: “The burden of proof lies with those who allege. Accordingly, until proven these are rumours we will not entertain.”
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