Johannesburg - Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said the ANC was working tirelessly to snatch back Pretoria and Ekurhuleni from the hands of the DA and its coalition partners.
Lesufi said he was concerned about the two municipalities, which are being led by the DA.
Developments in the two municipalities, which have been concerning for the premier; include the fact that Ekurhuleni was being led by a minority government under the DA, and now Tshwane has no mayor or mayoral committee since DA mayor Randall Williams resigned last week. Williams had brought his party into disrepute with the auditor-general's revealing adverse findings for the municipality’s finances.
"We have to dislodge the DA in Ekurhuleni; they are a minority government, and the majority must rule. We are also going to dislodge them in Tshwane; Tshwane is an important municipality; it is the capital of the country; we have to go for it," he said.
Lesufi confirmed that he had been approached by some of the DA coalition partners in Tshwane who wanted negotiations with the ANC. He declined to disclose which these parties were.
Meanwhile, he said the ANC was re-examining coalitions in Gauteng; this comes after some concerns at the national level over the EFF being in coalition agreements in the municipalities.
Reports suggest that the ANC at a national level was not happy with the ANC-EFF partnership at the local government level because of the manner in which the EFF had conducted itself in Parliament.
EFF members were thrown out of Parliament for attempting to disrupt President Cyril Ramaphosa from delivering his State of the Nation Address.
The EFF had also announced that it intended to submit a motion of no confidence in Speaker of Parliament Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula. Some in the ANC thought the party’s national relationship with the EFF was problematic. However, Lesufi described the ANC's relationship with the EFF in the province as a programme of action, not a coalition.
"We are not in a coalition; we have a minimum programme of action. For instance, they want to protest against our president and shut down the country; we do not agree with that," he said.
The West Rand, Tshwane, and Ekurhuleni were the only remaining municipalities in DA hands. Ekurhuleni was preparing motions of no confidence against the Speaker Raymond Dlamini and the mayor Tania Campbell, while Tshwane remained without a mayor.
The Star