In a dramatic effort, the DA has secured enough support from opposition parties to emerge as the front-runner in the Tshwane mayoral race, ahead of council sittings in all of the country’s eight metros early next week.
The ANC continues to stand firm against the EFF’s demands, meaning the DA, with the possible support of ActionSA, the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) and smaller parties, will have a majority of the vote for mayor.
Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and eThekwini all emerged from the municipal poll with hung councils. They are among 70 out of 213 municipalities that must convene their first council sitting by November 21, which is 14 business days after the election result was declared.
Parties are expected to continue with coalition talks to try to outmanoeuvre each other until the vote for mayor.
ANC election head Fikile Mbalula and DA federal council chair Helen Zille have stated they would prefer to sit on the opposition benches than give in to what many in both parties describe as “rent seekers”.
The ANC lost its outright majority in Tshwane in 2016 because of internal factional battles that resulted in violent protests on the city’s streets.
The opposition, including the EFF, united to hand control of the metro to the DA. Infighting in Tshwane contributed to the city having three mayors in the past five years.
Residents of Tshwane punished the ANC and the DA in the 2021 municipal elections for putting party interests above their obligation as public representatives. The ANC and DA lost support to smaller parties in Tshwane, with the ANC now occupying 75 seats in council, the EFF 23, the DA 69, ActionSA 19 and the FF+ 17.
The ANC has said working with the DA may be “a bridge too far” and the DA has insisted there will be “no formal coalition agreement” with the ANC. But both parties were less than direct when asked by Business Day if there is any informal understanding between them.
“The ANC will work with other parties in hung councils to ensure good governance, service delivery and an end to corruption,” said Paul Mashatile, who heads the ANC’s finances and leads its coalition talks.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party “will engage any organisation that shares a vision of a stable ... government” that is orientated towards service delivery.
DA insiders were confident of victory in Tshwane on Wednesday, saying the support of ActionSA would determine whether the party was able to form more than a minority government.
ANC insiders seemed aware that the DA would have the numbers in Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay.
Business Day reported on Wednesday that the IFP and Patriotic Alliance would help the ANC retain control of Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and eThekwini.
If the DA is supported by ActionSA, which is demanding support for Herman Mashaba as a candidate for Johannesburg mayor, it will be in pole position in the mayoral race in Tshwane.
Even if it does not have the support of ActionSA ahead of a secret ballot, the DA still has a slight lead in the numbers, mainly due to the support of other opposition parties.
The EFF has ruled out voting in support of any ANC or DA candidate.
A simple reading of the law and legal advice used in Gauteng metros since the local government elections in 2016 is that the party that crosses the finish line with the majority of votes in a mayoral race will win the election in council, provided a quorum of 50% plus one is reached at the meeting.
But a mayor elected with a minority government raises the odds of instability because the minority government might run into trouble when passing municipal budgets and other policy proposals.
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