Zille’s emphatic no to any coalition with EFF

DA LEADER Helen Zille has rejected claims that her party was flirting with the idea of forming a coalition with the EFF after the elections, saying it would never happen.

Zille said yesterday a coalition with the EFF would be “unworkable” due to the major ideological differences between the parties.

Rumours were flying over the past few days that DA and EFF leaders were discussing the possibility of a coalition government in Gauteng. But Zille has denied this. “I wish to state categorically that the DA will not enter into a coalition with the EFF under any circumstances. This includes Gauteng where there is a strong possibility that the ANC will receive less than 50% of the vote.

“I have always made it quite clear we will only form a coalition where it is possible to form a coherent govern- ment and implement our policy commitments to the public. This would be impossible with the EFF.

“The DA believes in market economics with a welfare safety net, non-racialism and the rule of law.

“The EFF’s policies are a threat to the economy and jobs, its racial rhetoric undermines reconciliation and its track record on corruption is as bad as Jacob Zuma’s ANC.”

Zille said Malema’s track record – the R52-million contract for his company in Limpopo which the public protector found to be unlawful and the R16-million he owes in unpaid taxes – could not be forgotten.

“The fact is that the ANC and the EFF are two sides of the same corrupt coin. The DA will not legitimise the EFF’s existence by entering into a coalition agreement with it.

“If this means that the DA remains in opposition in Gauteng, then so be it. We would rather remain in opposition than enter into an unworkable coalition with the EFF,” Zille said.