HOW THE ANC COULD DITCH THE EFF

The party could turn to a collective executive arrangement to resolve the coalition impasse in Gauteng

Is a shift from a mayoral executive system to a collective executive system on the cards for Gauteng councils? It may be for the ANC, whose leadership has resolved to pull out of its working relationship with the EFF. A shift to a collective system would spell more consensusstyle leadership in hung councils, and less instability. Such a shift is a central feature in the ANC’s coalition framework on hung councils, adopted by the party’s national executive committee (NEC) in April this year.

The possibility of an ANC-EFF tie-up after the 2024 election worries investors, who believe the EFF would use this to push for its radical policies. Fears intensified after the ANC in Gauteng entered into an agreement with the EFF to take back control of key metros, such as Joburg and Ekurhuleni. The ANC’s concern about the tie-up, which emerged at its NEC meeting last week — is that the EFF is using the governing arrangement to prop up its support among the electorate and the ANC’s own support base.

Former Ekurhuleni ANC chair Mzwandile Masina warned at the OR Tambo memorial celebration on Friday that the ANC is on track to lose elections if the relationship with the EFF continues. “Those who are opposed to the ANC and its policies are now doing work in our communities, work that [should] be done by our councillors ... If we don’t change [this], we stand to lose the elections next year … out of our own goal, wanting to stay in power for no reason.”

In Ekurhuleni, the EFF did not win a single ward in the last election, while the ANC won 78.

The ANC is feeling the pressure most in Ekurhuleni, particularly after its Gauteng leadership agreed to hand the EFF five executive positions including the finance portfolio. The view in the ANC NEC is that the party should “get out of those coalitions right now”.

A meeting of the party’s national working committee, meant to sit on Monday to discuss pulling out of the relationship with the EFF, was postponed and will now take place next week.

The party has expressed a strong preference for hung councils to be designated as collective executive councils. The ANC’s policy discussion document on coalitions, adopted at its April NEC meeting, expressed a strong preference for collective executive systems, saying mayoral systems should be considered only in councils with clear majorities or stable coalitions.

“Municipalities under a collective system are more stable ... able to make decisions and meet all the requirements of the law, including attending to service delivery and development issues,” reads the document, which has been seen by the FM.

“Municipalities that have adopted executive mayoral systems only work well with outright majorities. A coalition government with an executive mayoral system can easily be crippled and fail to deliver due to instability, even if it has financial resources.”

The key difference is that the collective system is consensusbased; major parties are represented in proportion to the number of votes and seats they obtained in the election. The ANC believes the largest party should be allowed to form a government in hung councils. In the framework document, the ANC argues that the system’s benefit is that even if the mayor is removed, the rest of the collective remains, which renders the council more stable.

A shift to this system is relatively easy and requires a change to a section 12 notice, which designates the type and category of a municipality by the provincial MEC for co-operative governance & traditional affairs.

There are a few other possibilities for the ANC once it cuts ties with the EFF, including sitting on opposition benches. It could also opt for a coalition with the DA — but the DA is hesitant. It led the Ekurhuleni council in a coalition before the ANC-EFF pact removed it.

“Our stance is consistent. We are not going to jump into another coalition because it is expedient. We don’t want to be in a situation where, a few weeks down the line, there is another motion of no confidence and we are back to square one,” says DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga. In Ekurhuleni’s case, he says, the DA would have to examine the situation carefully — the city’s finances are shambolic and it may be difficult to accelerate service delivery. He says entering into a coalition with the ANC would be “throwing it a lifeline”.

In the absence of an alternative coalition government, the ANC and a few other smaller parties could run the council as a minority government, but this arrangement would quickly come unstuck, for instance when voting for budgets, where a clear majority is required. Should the council fail to fulfil its responsibilities, it can be placed under administration by the provincial government, which is a long and arduous process.

ANC Ekurhuleni chief whip Jongizizwe Dlabathi first sounded a warning to the party’s national leadership that the tie-up with the EFF was dangerous in a letter to the leadership earlier this year. He believes in “partnerships based on proportional representation”.

“My position is clear; the ANC should be in the driving seat of coalitions … but the [national working committee] discussion will guide us,” he says.

The EFF has shrugged off the ANC’s move. EFF leader Julius Malema told Metro FM in an interview on Monday that the EFF is “not in a coalition with the ANC”. He says the minority party mayors of the cities had “invited” the EFF to be part of the executive and “we responded”.

The ANC’s next move will be crucial, as increased political turbulence this close to the 2024 polls could further derail the party’s already dismal prospects in Gauteng, South Africa’s economic heartland.

We stand to lose the elections next year … out of our own goal, wanting to stay in power for no reason — Mzwandile Masina