By Bulelani Phillip and Phida Essop
The ID decision to support the ANC in Cape Town's mayoral election showdown has damaged the credibility of leader Patricia de Lille and might cost the ID dearly in the floor-crossing period next year, say political analysts.
One said de Lille had emerged with a "tray of eggs on her face".
De Lille should have approached the Cape metro election with an open mind, instead of stating vehemently that she would not form a coalition with either the ANC or the DA, said Zwelethu Jolobe, a political scientist at UCT.
| 'There is a credibility issue (with Patricia de Lille)' |
While voters would be disappointed by her support for the ANC, it was difficult to assess at this stage how they would react when it came to voting.
But the move might mean some members of her party crossing to either the DA or the ANC next September.
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Jonathan Faul, political researcher at Idasa, concurred: "It's not like voters would desert in droves tomorrow." Still, ID voters were now opposition voters and might not be happy about Wednesday's move, he said.
Of the party's support for the ANC, Faul said this did not mean a pattern had been set that would require the party to vote for the ANC on all issues in the council.
"There is a credibility issue (with Patricia de Lille), because she voted in favour of (former mayor Nomaindia) Mfeketo, even though she had said in one newspaper that (voting against her) was non-negotiable," Faul said.
| The ID had agreed to support Mfeketo for mayor. |
De Lille had also repeatedly denied that she had struck a deal with the ANC.
But now it seemed "quite clear" that the ID had agreed to support Mfeketo for mayor in return for the ANC's support for Simon Grindrod as deputy mayor.
Keith Gottschalk, a political analyst at the University of the Western Cape, said the ID had started off by appealing for a grand coalition that would have included itself, the DA and the ANC.
But in the end the largest and fourth-largest parties - the DA and ACDP - had managed with the help of smaller parties to outmanoeuvre the ANC and ID.
"It seems the result was at the end due to the DA's ability to get the Africa Muslim Party to drop its alliance with the ANC, and swing the vote in their favour. That is where the victory lay.
"De Lille all along took the stand that the ID would not be part of a formal coalition, but would simply work on a vote-by-vote basis."
bulelanip@incape.co.za
phildae@incape.co.za
- This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Argus on March 16, 2006
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