The political snubbing and sniping over control of the city continued on Thursday night with Independent Democrats (ID) leader Patricia de Lille categorically refusing to accept a seat on the executive that the Democratic Alliance (DA) says will be reserved for the party indefinitely.
"We are not even considering" taking up this offer said De Lille, in what was the third rejection of the DA in as many days.
On Wednesday, the ID spurned two offers that would have given the party two seats on the mayoral executive committee (mayco).
The ID instead responded with a demand for a change in government from the mayoral executive to the executive committee system, a move that would exclude the smaller parties from the leadership fray.
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'We sit here without a party that belongs with us' Despite this, executive mayor Helen Zille said on Thursday at the announcement of the new multiforum government, or mayoral executive committee, that "the door was still open to the ID".
She said the ID's decision to accept an amended offer of two mayco seats, three sub-councils and four bargaining council positions, was "vetoed at the last minute" by De Lille.
"And now we sit here without a party that belongs with us, but their leader does not want to (join)."
But this was strongly denied by the ID's city leader Simon Grindrod, who said: "The city caucus of the ID on Thursday night unanimously rejected the offer of the DA to join its coalition."
The DA and ID remain at loggerheads about the city's system of governance, with Zille saying it would be "massively destabilising" for the ID to push for an executive committee system.
'Both would prefer to be in power without each other' "The ID are the spoilers in this matter. If she wants to destroy her party entirely, she will destabilise the government next week."
Both the ID and the ANC said the DA has reneged on its own election manifesto which endorses the committee system.
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