Durban - Opposition parties see a greater chance of unseating the ANC in the metro through co-operation.
With an upcoming Ward 99 by-election, the DA has advised its members in the ward to throw their lot behind the IFP, in the hope of laying the groundwork for the eventual ousting of the ANC from power in eThekwini Municipality.
The ward councillor position in the uMkomaas area became vacant when the ANC councillor was killed recently.
The co-operation agreement was unveiled at a joint press briefing by the two parties’ provincial leadership yesterday, and followed behind the scenes discussions that began last month between senior party leaders.
The two parties expressed optimism of unseating the ANC, saying the fragile coalition at the metro had failed to deliver efficient service.
DA KZN chairperson Dean Macpherson noted how the party narrowly lost the eThekwini mayorship, adding that they saw a greater chance of closing the margin and removing the ANC in the coming weeks and months when working together.
“It is a view shared by the IFP that where the DA has a greater chance of victory, they too would step back to assist in removing the ANC.
“This will also have important consequences in the eThekwini Municipality which is governed by a fragile ANC-led coalition,” said MacPherson. He stressed that the decision had been taken in the best interests of voters in Ward 99.
IFP KZN chairperson Thami Ntuli said that co-operation between opposition parties had always been a powerful tool to change the dynamics of governance at local, provincial and even national level.
“In South Africa, the political environment is ripe for closer co-operation, collaboration and coalitions.
“In fact, it has never been more urgent for the opposition to work together to shift the balance of power away from those who have consistently abused the trust of our citizens,” said Ntuli
He revealed that a meeting was held last month between IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa and his DA counterpart, John Steenhuisen, and Helen Zille where issues of mutual interest were discussed in-depth, with the primary focus on harnessing their potential in KwaZulu-Natal.
The IFP chairperson indicated that it was vital that strong opposition parties build good working relations in the run-up to 2024, in order to effect serious change in the next election. “Suffice to say that the IFP welcomes all co-operation that will place us in a stronger position to take wards and even councils away from those who have not been serving them well,” said Ntuli.
IFP treasurer Narend Singh conceded that there were no guarantees about coalition governments, but stressed that this was not limited to South Africa, but was a worldwide phenomenon.
KwaZulu-Natal ANC spokesperson Mafika Mndebele brushed aside suggestions of an IFP wave in the province, saying the ruling party was not taking them seriously.
“The ANC is not losing any sleep because in the by-elections that have taken place where the IFP won they were in fact retaining the wards that they had won in last year’s local government elections.”
The pact between the DA and the IFP was nothing new, and the development did not warrant panic, he said.
Meanwhile, the IFP has raised concerns over what it suggested were irregularities in the voters roll, questioning the residential addresses of some of the voters.
Electoral Commission of SA spokesperson Thabani Ngwira was unable to provide comment at the time of publication regarding complaints over the voters roll.