DA will never work with EFF – Maimane
DA leader Mmusi Maimane yesterday vowed that his party would never again make the mistake of forming a coalition with the EFF.
Maimane, who was on the campaign trail in uMlazi, south of Durban, made the statement when he was responding to a question on whether the DA would consider working with the EFF against the ANC in cases where the latter holds the balance of power, either nationally or provincially, after the elections.
“We will never work with a party that is racist. We will never work with a party that does not want to uphold the rule of law or that wants to advance corruption,” he said.
Maimane and party provincial leader Zwakele Mncwango were once again in Durban campaigning for the elections. They visited KwaMashu, in the north of Durban, and uMlazi.
However, EFF deputy secretary-general, Hlengiwe Hlophe-Mkhaliphi, hit back at Maimane, saying her party also regretted having sided with the “racist” DA in Nelson Mandela, Tshwane and Johannesburg metro municipalities after the 2016 local government elections.
“He should go back to the dictionary to see who is the racist between his party and ourselves.
“It is going to be very difficult to work with them because they don’t want to change,” said Hlophe-Mkhaliphi.
She said the DA’s objection to expropriation of land without compensation made it clear that “we can no longer work with them”.
She said the EFF was monitoring whether the ANC was able to rid itself of corruption in order to consider working with them.
In uMlazi, Maimane introduced National Freedom Party (NFP) national chairperson, Maliyakhe Shelembe, and deputy national chairperson Sicelo Mabika, who are both MPs, as new DA members. He said the two will retain their parliamentary positions after the elections.
He said former DA provincial leader Sizwe Mchunu had made the wrong decision by leaving for the ANC.
“He certainly was not in any of our lists, and we wish him good luck,” said Maimane.
He said Shelembe and Mabika would make valuable contributions in the country under the DA.
“These are the leaders (Shelembe and Maibila) who are coming with us to Parliament as they are already on our national list,” he said.
Shelembe said he was going to use his experience to benefit the DA.
In 2000 he was an IFP ward councillor, IFP mayor in Umtshezi Municipality between 2001 to 2010, NFP deputy mayor in Uthukela District Municipality from 2011, and an NFP MP from 2014. GAUTENG Premier David Makhura said his administration had kick -started the process of terminating all its contracts with controversial facilities management company Bosasa.
Bosasa has been heavily implicated in allegations of corruption and state capture.
Bosasa’s former chief operating officer Angelo Agrizzi has told the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture that the company had for years dished out massive bribes to politicians and senior government officials in exchange for state contracts.
Makhura said one of the contracts awarded to Bosasa spanned 15 years with the social development department, where the company provided a rehabilitation facility for children who were in conflict with the law.
“Over the past 15 years, that contract has been worth R600 million. I have decided that we must terminate that contract with immediate effect.
“I have instructed the legal team of the provincial government to initiate the process of terminating that contract,” Makhura said.
Makhura said his ethics advisory council is currently investigating whether there was bribery of officials or irregularity in the awarding of the contract over the years.
“I also did the same with KPMG and McKinsey when there were allegations of unethical conduct that had a bearing on state capture.
“There is further work that we are doing because Bosasa has a lot of different entities, but the immediate thing that my treasury did was bring forward this information that we had this contract dating over 15 years,” he said.
He said officials would be hunted down even if they were no longer working for the provincial government.
“Where there is a government official that is going to be implicated in any of these deals, we will take action against them.
‘There is nowhere to hide for officials who may have acted corruptly. We will go for them,” he said.
His administration would not hesitate to terminate contracts with any company that is implicated in state capture.
“Everything that is taking place at the Zondo Commission is something that I am looking at very closely and I want to say that if there is any business that is implicated at the commission, we as the Gauteng government are going to do the same, without any hesitation.
“We don’t want the provincial government do business with those in the private sector who are involved in corruption, state capture or unethical business conduct, he said.
Bosasa has recently successfully applied in the Gauteng High Court for reversal of their decision to go into liquidation.
The company’s board filed for Bosasa’s liquidation in February after FNB and Absa closed their accounts because of allegations of corruption.
Makhura said that he could not allow his administration to continue any future business relationship with Bosasa because the company had failed to adequately respond to the allegations made against it.
“They have not made any case to indicate that the allegations are untrue and if they have any case, they must go and make it at the commission,” he said.