Durban – The plan by opposition parties to topple the mayor of KwaDukuza in a vote of no confidence has been stalled, amid squabbling among parties.
The political leadership of KwaDukuza Municipality was under threat of being removed by opposition parties led by ActionSA, this week.
The party tabled a motion of no confidence against mayor Lindi Nhaca, deputy mayor Thulani Ntuli and speaker of the council, Dolly Govender.
The DA, however, said on Monday that talks among opposition parties on this motion had collapsed. It accused ActionSA of numerous irregularities, which it said precipitated the collapse of the talks.
But ActionSA hit back, saying it was aware of a “profoundly dishonest” statement released by the DA relating to coalition talks in KwaDukuza Municipality.
In its statement, the DA said weeks of progress in coalition negotiations to take over the KwaDukuza Municipality had collapsed.
DA provincial chairperson, Dean McPherson said this was due to some “fundamentally untenable and potentially illegal demands made by ActionSA”.
“Their demands were so problematic that the coalition government would not have been a real alternative to the ANC, because practices like cadre deployment and interference in budget processes would have continued unabated,” he said.
The DA claimed that during Monday’s discussions on the draft coalition agreement ActionSA had insisted on the inclusion of a clause that would compel selection panels to report to an unelected political party committee.
“This proposal mirrors the ANC cadre deployment policy recently described as ‘unconstitutional and illegal’ by the Zondo Commission, and which the DA is seeking to abolish through a court application,” McPherson said.
In response, ActionSA said the DA had demonstrated its insincerity, as the party had concluded a meeting at 10am on Monday with the multi-party coalition committing to further talks but had proceeded to issue the press statement 10 minutes later.
“The DA has demonstrated a deliberate tactic of frustrating coalition talks in KwaDukuza in a manner what is consistent with the tactics they previously employed in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni. This could easily be corroborated with any of the political parties present.
“While the DA seeks to base their claim on concerns of instability, the DA has introduced requirements of the coalition agreement that prohibit the coalition from taking any proactive steps to secure a majority of votes required to conduct any council business for the municipality.”
ActionSA said it remained part of a group of political parties that were working to remove the ANC from government and replace it with a viable coalition for the benefit of the residents of KwaDukuza.
“The DA has demonstrated with this statement, and its behaviour over the past few weeks, that it does not consider itself committed to this effort.”