Coalition still intact, say Trollip and Bobani
AS speculation mounts that the relationship between the UDM and DA is hanging by a thread in Nelson Mandela Bay, both mayor Athol Trollip and his deputy, Mongameli Bobani, insisted yesterday that the coalition is still intact.
The rift between the two was laid bare in a letter Bobani sent to UDM president Bantu Holomisa earlier this month, in which the deputy mayor complained that he felt disrespected by Trollip who disregarded his advice.
A meeting Trollip and DA leader Mmusi Maimane had with EFF leader Julius Malema on Friday also aroused suspicion that the DA was trying to partner with the EFF in the Bay.
This, as the relationship between Trollip and Bobani is believed to be becoming increasingly strained.
The DA and EFF were unwilling to say what was discussed at Friday’s meeting.
Trollip said he did not discuss internal party matters with the media, while EFF national spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said there was nothing to comment on at the moment.
Meanwhile, a statement attributed to Trollip that was widely circulated on social media yesterday has been dismissed by both Trollip and Bobani as fake.
The letter claims the EFF has agreed to play a strategic role in the governance of the metro.
It says: “In the past days there has been misunderstanding between the executive mayor and deputy mayor.
“Unfortunately the differences played into the public domain and it is with heavy heart to announce that there is breakdown of relationship between the executive mayor and deputy mayor.
“This has created trust deficit and all attempts to repair the relationship has
failed. It is upon this background, that the executive mayor of NMB metro and DA leader Mmusi Maimane had a meeting with EFF leader Julius Malema in Johannesburg on Friday.
“The meeting was fruitful and the leader of DA will pronounce the resolutions soon.
“I want to assure the residents of the metro that decisions taken are in their best interests and EFF will be key in strategic positions of governance of the metro.
“The DA leader and EFF leader will furthermore look at replicating the same model to be implemented in all metros where DA is governing through coalition government.”
Trollip’s spokesman, Sibongile Dimbaza, said the statement was written by a faceless individual who plagiarised a statement he had written months ago and added information to make it look legitimate.
“This is fake and totally unacceptable. Someone out there has a bad sense of humour,” he said.
Dimbaza said the e-mail address and phone number added at the bottom of the statement were incorrect.
Trollip said yesterday: “The coalition . . . is still intact.
“It’s business as usual and we are going ahead with programmes.”
Bobani said the disagreements between him and Trollip had not affected the coalition agreement that the UDM and the DA signed.
“We have provincial counterparts that are dealing with our disagreements, and when they fail to resolve them we refer matters to the national leadership,” he said.
He would not be drawn into saying what he made of the meeting between the DA and EFF.
“You will have to ask the DA and EFF about those talks or what they mean for the UDM,” he said.
Holomisa said he believed that the talks between the DA and EFF were for the good of the coalition.
“There is nothing wrong with the DA and EFF meeting because although the EFF is not part of the coalition, it has given its support for this coalition – meetings should serve the interests of coalitions,” he said.
On the issues between Trollip and Bobani, Holomisa said: “I keep telling them to move on and stop fighting over ANC deployees that we found there.
“There is no crisis with the coalition, it’s just disagreements between the mayor and deputy.”