DA accuses PA of collapsing Joburg mayoral talks
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Joburg has accused the Patriotic Alliance (PA)'s Kenny Kunene of collapsing negotiations for the election of the new mayor.
The DA claims Kunene has put himself as the mayoral candidate and has also demanded two mayoral committee portfolios for his party.
The DA approached former multi-party collation partners in the city in an effort to find common ground ahead of Friday’s vote for a new Johannesburg mayor.
Coalition partnerships come into the election for a new mayor on shaky ground after ActionSA ditched the DA-led coalition to field their own candidate in Funzi Ngobeni, while the DA itself hopes ousted Mpho Phalatse will be lucky and return as mayor for a third time.
The city’s councillors failed to elect a new mayor to succeed Thapelo Amad during the previous sitting on Tuesday.
Several caucus breaks led to council speaker Colleen Makhubele postponing the sitting to Friday, leaving the country’s economic hub without a mayor again.
DA Gauteng Provincial Chairperson Fred Nel says an agreement couldn't be reached because of the PA's demands.
The party also wanted PA to distance itself from working with the ANC in nine municipalities around the country, but Kunene refused.
Nel acknowledged that the PA has a major influence on the vote.
He adds the EFF has an even bigger impact on the outcome, but vows to never work with them.
"The DA has taken a principal position that it will not be working with the EFF because of the EFF's chaos and socialism and our values just don't match up.
“We will not be working with the EFF and we never considered working with the EFF in Joburg.
“We also want to take the ANC out the DA does not want to work with the ANC because of the distraction that they brought in government," said Nel.
He said Mpho Phalatse remain the DA's mayoral candidate.
"We will try until the end to negotiate with various political parties to support Mpho Phalatse because she had brought stability when she was in office and she was keeping the coalition together, however, it is very difficult to predict what the outcome of the vote will be. It's a very fluid situation and the DA hopes we can settle this matter today.
“As the DA we are banking on our 71 votes in caucus, we will see how the others fall and depending on whether the ANC and EFF reach an agreement or not, that could have a major impact on who could win," added Nel.
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