Radebe faces make-or-break meeting with frustrated coalition
THE African Independent Congress (AIC) says it is expecting to meet with Minister of Energy Jeff Radebe this week, in a make-or-break attempt to save the coalition agreement between the party and the ANC.
The coalition helped the ANC retain control of the Ekurhuleni metro and Rustenburg municipality after the governing party failed to get more than 50% during the 2016 local government elections.
But the already fragile coalition is again under threat, according to the AIC because the ANC has not placed the introduction of provincial legislature bills to amend the border and restore Matatiele back to Kwazulu-natal before Parliament.
Radebe did not respond to Sunday Tribune queries over this week’s meeting and why the bill had not been placed before Parliament.
The AIC was formed in December 2005 out of a demarcation dispute.
Disgruntled ANC members broke away from the party in protest against the government’s inclusion of the town into the Eastern Cape, rather than having it reincorporated into KZN. Matatiele was moved from KZN to the Eastern Cape in 2005, despite vocal opposition to the decision.
More than a decade later, the AIC earned the title of kingmaker after the local elections. The AIC may be a small party but it does hold trump cards. Last week, it supported the DA’S budget in the Nelson Mandela Bay – a move which prevented the metro being placed under administration by the Eastern Cape government. This is remarkable as the AIC has a coalition agreement with the ANC. In 2006, the AIC contested only the Matatiele local municipality and managed to get 10 seats.
In 2011, it contested seven municipalities and got 17 seats in municipalities across the Eastern Cape and KZN.
In the 2016 polls, the AIC won 55 seats, a significant increase from the 17 it held after the May 2011 local government elections. Party leader Mandla Galo said this week the ANC must expect a tough, no-holds-barred discussion this week. “We want them to explain why the bill has not been placed before Parliament and why they are not briefing us on their challenges.
“I don’t think they will pull out of the coalition agreement because they will lose Gauteng and Ekurhuleni to the DA at next year’s elections if they do,” he said.
Galo said the “poorly made decision” to incorporate Matatiele into the Eastern Cape in 2005 had disastrous consequences for the town.
“When Matatiele Hospital was part of KZN it was much better. Now it has deteriorated; there is no medicine and there are significant challenges with corruption,” Galo said.