Pretoria - Who the ANC will go into coalition with will be decided on a case-by-case basis, the party says.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said on Thursday there were different dynamics in various municipalities where it needs to go into coalition to govern.
Speaking at the NEC's meeting at the St George's Hotel near the city, Mantashe said: “We need to decide why is it we want to have a coalition. Is it about power, is it about keeping the DA out, or is it about being part of a coalition government? What is the basis for a coalition?
“You'll have a different permutation in Nelson Mandela, and a totally different combination of parties in Rustenburg or Mokgopong, so it depends on who are the players in a different municipality.”
ANC structures and alliance partners' views ahead of the NEC meeting to analyse the election results have given the strongest indication yet of how divided the party is over its poor showing in the polls.
The ANC in the North West on Thursday came out in support of President Jacob Zuma in anticipation of calls for Zuma and the national leadership to shoulder the blame for the party's performance, particularly in Gauteng, where voters largely rejected the ANC.
“As the ANC in Bokone Bophirima (North West), we have witnessed how Zuma went the extra mile to campaign across the country's municipalities, including the several times that he visited our province. The good results that the ANC obtained in our province, including winning the challenging municipalities of Madibeng, Matlosana and Tlokwe, were all because of the ANC president's hard work. We affirm our support for (Zuma) without any fear, because we know how tireless he was in spreading the message of the movement in all corners of the country,” the province said.
This support for Zuma was expressed a few hours before the NEC meeting, but shortly after a scathing assessment by the SA Communist Party, which questioned the role of the national leadership, including its handling of the Nkandla saga.
It also came out in defence of the leadership of the ANC in Gauteng, which is also set to face scrutiny at the NEC over the province's failure to retain its three big metros.
“All leadership collectives, including all ANC provincial leaderships, need to shoulder responsibility, rather than pointing fingers at each other.Likewise, at the national level, it is important that an honest assessment is undertaken. To what extent have national errors affected local electoral behaviour? Is it true that only a black urban intelligentsia is concerned about Nkandla?” said SACP spokesman Alex Mashilo.
According to the ANC's alliance partner, voters had sent a strong message to the ANC that they should not be taken for granted.
It also said arrogance of ANC politicians, money-driven rivalries and calculations about the 2017 elective conference had contributed to the party's election losses.
On Thursday Mantashe said the party would spend the next three days analysing the poll outcomes. He deflected the accusation of arrogance which has come from the SACP and other quarters following the election results.
“Arrogance is a question of an observation, sometimes when I assert myself you may feel that Im arrogant, I don't want to get into those descriptions, all I'm saying is that there are quite a number of messages that have come through these elections and we are interpreting them here,” said Mantashe.
He said the party would discuss the “strange phenomenon” of the proportional representation system which saw it end up with lower percentages even though it won most wards in the local government elections. The party was not crying foul, he said, but would table the issue for discussion, describing it as a “strange phenomenon”.
“The reality of the matter is that after the elections, we will have to go back to our people and talk to them. We have to thank those who continue to support the ANC and those who voted for it. We will have to actually thank those who didn't vote for the ANC and say we are hearing the message,” said Mantashe.
“The essence of the (NEC) meeting is therefore to say, how do we interpret that message, how do we arrest the decline, and turn the situation around? We can only do that if we go back to the people. On elections, it is the people who are the final arbiter, so we're going to have a programme of going out there.”
Mantashe said the ANC wants “to hear out the people again”.
Mantashe said the condition set out by the Economic Freedom Fighters for coalition talks to succeed in the hung municipalities including Tshwane and Joburg was too much to ask for.
“Let me tell you this, I will never go to any party and put a condition (forward to) remove your leader. I will not do that. If it is done to us, it is an issue that we must deal with in the negotiations. It doesn't set an agenda for this ANC NEC meeting,” said Mantashe.
This week, Julius Malema's EFF said Zuma had to be removed first, if the coalition talks with the ANC were to yield results. Parties have 14 days from elections day to conclude deliberations and form coalitions in hung municipalities.
The ANC is currently in high level negotiations with opposition parties for coalitions in significant metros like Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Joburg after losing grip in the August 3 polls, falling below 50 percent.
Additional reporting by the African News Agency.
Pretoria News