The smaller parties in Nelson Mandela Bay had backed out of the deal with the DA because it would not meet their demands.
The DA and the smaller parties were last Wednesday already in bed, but after the postponement of the meeting to Monday things changed as the parties did not see eye to eye with the DA.
It was at that point that the smaller parties walked straight into the ANC, which gave the ANC an edge to win back the Nelson Mandela Bay metro
Samuel Monyamane of the Defenders of the People said the small parties were going to vote as a block and would not allow their vote to be split.
The small parties included Abantu Integrity Movement, the AIC, the UDM, the Northern Alliance and others.
Monyamane said they had met to discuss why they needed to back the ANC after their deal with the DA collapsed.
“We continued to engage all parties, but we couldn’t allow this matter to hang for so long. The decision that transpired today is a collective decision,” said Monyamane, adding he was speaking for the small parties.
“We have been working together, sleepless nights, day in and day out until 3am. We concluded our meeting in the morning whereby we agreed to go with the ANC,” he said.
He said they met the ANC from 8:30pm on Sunday until 3am on Monday when the deal was struck with them.
“Our meeting with the ANC started at 8:30pm until 3am. That is why we changed and voted for the ANC. We are not fighting the ANC, we are not fighting the DA. We want services to our people,” said Monyamane.
He said there were reasons why they changed from supporting the DA to going with the ANC.
“On Wednesday, we nearly formed the government with the DA but they did not come to the party regarding our demands because there are certain things (that forced us not to give them) the majority (vote). We said collectively so. When the ANC came to us we managed to reach some agreement,” said Monyamane.
“As small parties we can’t be bullied around. We want to have a clear voice so that we can take all services to our masses on the ground,” he said.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said it was a sad day to see the ANC back in charge at Nelson Mandela Bay.
He said the leaders responsible for the ANC’s return to power should be held responsible in 2024.
The ANC should not have been allowed back into power in the metro, said Mashaba.
“Very sad to see this. The people of Nelson Mandela Bay rejected the ANC, and the parties involved should have shown them the opposition benches. Anyone who helps the ANC must be held responsible in 2024,” said Mashaba.
DA mayoral candidate Nqaba Bhanga said they would not have allowed themselves to be backed into a corner.
Bhanga lost by one vote to Eugene Johnson of the ANC.
He said the will of the people had prevailed after the majority of the councillors voted with the ANC.
He said he had accepted what happened. He said he was disappointed by the change by some of the small parties to go with the ANC.
“We stood firm on our principles. They didn’t want us to have the service delivery department. The deal the ANC has given them is the service delivery department,” he said, adding: “We could not agree because we wanted to keep power at all costs.”
POLITICAL BUREAU