The ANC this week reached out to the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), seeking its support to help it secure the City of Tshwane mayoral chain ahead of a crucial council vote set to take place on Wednesday.
Talks between the two parties are being held in all spheres of government — local, provincial and national — and are said to be at an advanced stage.
Several ANC insiders told the Sunday Times they were confident their party and the FF Plus would reach an agreement on control of the country’s administrative capital.
The two parties, the insiders said, were looking at how they could bring stability to the metropolitan municipality after the ousting of the DA’s Cilliers Brink last week.
This stability, they said, could be achieved only if the ANC held the mayorship of Tshwane, as opposed to a minority party.
“What I can say to you is that we are consolidating our numbers, and I think we are coming right,” said a senior ANC leader with intimate knowledge of the discussions.
Another ANC leader indicated the discussions were so advanced there was now “a pact between our national office and the FF Plus”.
ANC national leaders are due to meet both its provincial and Tshwane regional leaders on Monday to discuss a way forward on Tshwane.
An announcement on the outcome of the meeting is expected to be made tomorrow.
Last night’s meeting was also expected to debate whether the ANC should field its own mayoral candidate or consider supporting ActionSA’s Nasiphi Moya, who is Tshwane’s deputy mayor.
Ahead of last week’s ousting of Brink, the ANC and ActionSA had agreed Herman Mashaba’s party would take control of the city, replacing the DA.
But it seems that deal has collapsed, with the ANC now arguing it should take over the Tshwane mayoralty because it has the most votes in the council, albeit no outright majority.
There was much lobbying by various ANC structures for the party to field its own candidate while keeping Moya as deputy mayor.
ANC Tshwane regional chair Eugene “Bonzo” Modise and former regional chair Kgosi Maepa have been touted as possible Tshwane mayors.
It is unclear where all this puts the ANC’s relationship with ActionSA, which had been eyeing the mayoral chain.
The ANC reached out, and there has been a discussion or two on the local and provincial levels. We have, however, not yet had a formal engagement on the national level
— FF Plus spokesperson Wouter Wessels
However, should discussions with FF Plus yield positive results, the ANC will on Wednesday be able to install its mayoral candidate easily.
Such a development would mean the ANC would be supported by ActionSA, the EFF and the FF Plus.
FF Plus spokesperson Wouter Wessels confirmed the ANC had reached out to the party, but he insisted there was no agreement yet in place.
He said all parties represented in the council were having discussions “to obtain stability” in Tshwane and that “no outcome [had] been reached” at this point.
“The ANC reached out, and there has been a discussion or two on the local and provincial levels. We have, however, not yet had a formal engagement on the national level,” said Wessels.
Though Wessels said the FF Plus had opposed the motion of no confidence that resulted in Brink’s ousting last week, as it had been committed to its coalition with the DA, the party was now focused on bringing stability to the metro.
When asked whether the stability the FF Plus sought to bring about in the municipality was linked to the DA, Wessels did not want to elaborate.
“It is premature to answer that. We will act in the best interests of good governance and make decisions accordingly,” he said.
If the FF Plus enters into an agreement with the ANC in Tshwane, it will not be the first time the two parties have joined forces to oust the DA.
The two recently worked together in the Western Cape to remove a DA mayor in Oudtshoorn.
The parties went on to install Johannes Allers of the FF Plus as mayor and the ANC’s Jongilizwe Tyatya as deputy mayor.
Earlier in the year, the parties also worked together to remove the DA’s Paul Swart as mayor of Cape Agulhas.
The ANC coalition in Tshwane currently has 120 councillors, comprising 75 from the ANC, 23 from the EFF, 19 from ActionSA, and three from minority parties, including the African Transformation Movement and the Patriotic Alliance.
The DA has 69 councillors, while the FF Plus has 17.
The discussions between the ANC and FF Plus, if they succeed, could see the ANC-led coalition enjoying a majority of 137.
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