ANC mending fences with coalition bloc in eThekwini, meeting to be called to address challenges

DURBAN - THE ANC is set to meet with its coalition partners, the bloc of smaller parties, in eThekwini Municipality to iron out their differences.

This comes as the party fears that if the issues are left unattended to, it could pose a serious challenge to the functioning of the metro.

ANC provincial spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela confirmed yesterday that there were plans to meet with the parties.

On Monday the city failed to approve the appointment of the city manager after the bloc voted against it on account that it was not consulted.

They voted with the opposition parties who objected because the process had been mired in irregularities.

The Mercury understands that the smaller parties held a meeting yesterday, however, the matters that were discussed were not immediately clear.

The smaller parties told The Mercury that it was up to the ANC to fix the strained relations and keep the coalition together to retain its position as the leader of the province’s only metro.

Ntombela said: “We will meet with the parties to address their concerns because if these are left unattended, they might prove to be problems.”

It could not be established yesterday when the meeting would be held.

The actions of the smaller parties on Monday has led to some ANC councillors feeling that they cannot fully trust or rely on their partners for support.

Sources in the ANC in and out of the eThekwini caucus described the relationship in the coalition as working under the “threat of a gun”.

Political analyst Thabani Khumalo said he believed that the coalition would not last. “I do not see this coalition being sustained for five years. The problem is not just on the ANC side, but with the smaller parties too, they behave as though they are equal partners in this arrangement, that is not fair to the ANC and the voters,” he said.

He said the ANC ran the risk of being viewed as indecisive because of the arrangement.

A source aware of the discussion within the smaller parties bloc said: “The coalition is still ‘strong’, but there have been overtures from other parties who smell blood in the water and believed that a change of leadership could be affected through a motion of no confidence.

“At the moment the feeling is that none of the parties making the overtures are in the position or capable of governing, but the ball is in the ANC’s court.”

Another councillor from the bloc said their vote on Monday was a way “to tell the ANC to wake up,” but it did not mean that they were getting divorced.

African Democratic Change (ADeC) leader Visvin Reddy would only say there has been “gossip” about other parties making overtures.

He said there had been a breakdown in communication between the ANC and its coalition bloc. “On the issue of the city manager, there had been no consultation.”

He said ADeC was still happy with the coalition with the ANC as the party had kept the promises it had made.

“They gave us the position of deputy mayor, and the chair of the biggest portfolio committee (Infrastructure and Human Settlement), they also gave us the position of Mpac (chair), but at the end of the day, it is not about positions,” he said.

A source in the ANC with close ties to the Renew Rebuilt Unite faction, which is aligned to President Cyril Ramaphosa, said many councillors were feeling that the best way forward would be for the council to be dissolved and new elections held.

“Heading to the elections, many people of the ANC were not campaigning and many did not vote, and now many are willing to do that (in order to regain control of the municipality), they are now saying it’s better that the municipality is dissolved and taken over by the provincial government and new elections held,” said the source.

The source said another issue was that there did not seem to be a good relationship between mayor Mxolisi Kaunda and deputy mayor Philani Mavundla.

Mavundla, the leader of Abantu Batho Congress (ABC), is part of the coalition and attained the deputy mayor position on the ANC ticket.

Kaunda was asked during a media briefing yesterday about his relationship with Mavundla and he described it as a healthy one.

But an ANC councillor said the coalition was so fragile that the party was fearful of holding council meetings for fear that the opposition might slap the mayor with a vote of no confidence.

Asked about a vote of no confidence, Kaunda said he was not concerned about the opposition trying to topple him.

“Such votes, if they come, they are part of the democratic process,” he said.

Mavundla said what happened on Monday was a normal political process.

Regarding the possibility of the council being dissolved, Ntombela said it was near impossible to dissolve the council and the party was not aware of such a feeling coming from their councillors.

“The municipality is four months into the term, it’s fully functional, to dissolve will mean councillors will have to resign,” he said.

‘CRUCIAL POST’

ETHEKWINI mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said yesterday that filling the city manager position was critical as the issue has been flagged by the auditor-general, the provincial Treasury and the Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department.

He said following the rejection of the panel report on the appointment of a city manager on Monday, the executive committee (Exco) would meet to discuss the implementation of the council report.

He said Exco would make recommendations on the process that could include restarting the process and advertising the position again.

“Exco will look at the nitty-gritties of how to implement the decision of the full council, we will also seek advice on how to implement those decisions within the ambit of the law as everything we do must be within the bounds of the law.”

Kaunda said the rejection of the report was not based on issues regarding the suitability of candidates, but rather on allegations in the media that there had been improper influence on the process.

He said there had been no improper influence on the process.