ACDP, COPE ‘might have to swallow pride’

The ACDP and COPE in Nelson Mandela Bay, who were previously vehemently opposed to any alliance with UDM councillor Mongameli Bobani, said yesterday they may have no choice but to work with him.

COPE councillor Siyasanga Sijadu and ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom were speaking shortly after a joint media conference called by their parties, along with the DA, Patriotic Alliance and UDM after a special council meeting was declared illegal by speaker Buyelwa Mafaya.

Sijadu, who had previously called Bobani a power-hungry madman, said she might have no choice but to align herself with him.

“Sometimes you have to swallow your pride for the residents of the city,” she said.

“The city is facing a huge risk with the National Treasury’s threat to recall R3bn.

“We will all suffer if that happens. Sometimes you have no choice in a matter.”

Sijadu said she felt stuck “between a rock and a hard place”.

“It is either you let things continue to slide or you try to make things better for the people of the city.”

Sijadu posted on Facebook two months ago that she would never entertain any coalition agreement if Bobani was involved.

She even said the DA would have to choose between COPE and Bobani.

In her post, she accused Bobani of turning the metro into a “spaza shop” during his time as mayor, adding that the UDM had failed to discipline

him. “How do we justify removing a mayor in December and possibly bringing him back into government?” she questioned at the time.

Grootboom, who had previously said he would never enter into any coalition with the UDM if Bobani was part of it as he had wrecked the city during his time as mayor, said residents had to be put first even if it meant working with him.

“We have not decided if this will happen but we would consider our options. You need a majority of councillors to achieve certain goals in the city,” he said.

During the media conference, DA Eastern Cape leader and Bay councillor Nqaba Bhanga dodged questions about his party forming a possible coalition with the UDM.

“We are here to elect a new government. What we’re discussing is the meeting [that collapsed and] not positions. We’re not there yet.”

He would not talk about the role that Bobani would play in that government.

Bhanga has, in the past, likened Bobani to Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

However, he refused to say whether he still thought this was true.

“We are not here to talk about that. If I am dodging these questions so be it. A time will come when I will address them.”

Bobani, when addressing the media, said: “We want to bring political stability. There are leaks everywhere.

“Right now we don’t have a mayor. We don’t have an executive meant to take decisions meant to deliver services for our people.”