Nelson Mandela Bay set for another round of coalition talks
The African
National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) both secured 48 seats
in Nelson Mandela Bay – setting off a scramble among political parties to
secure a working majority.
The ANC and the DA will now have to start lobbying smaller parties in a bid to secure a governing coalition especially in the Eastern Cape metro.
Nelson Mandela University political expert, Dr Ntsikelelo Breakfast, says coalition talks are incredibly complicated.
“They are not embedded in a particular formal framework that guides them, the issue of service delivery is going to accepted because when you have governments that are not stable then you can’t deliver. How do you deliver when you’re chopping and changing leaders? This person comes with this vison, that person comes with that vision, I think the residents of the Bay are going to be on the backfoot.”
Meanwhile, veteran political activist and businessman, Khusta Jack, says he's happy with the performance of his team after winning a seat in the Nelson Mandela Bay council.
“The voters have sent a clear message that the metro must be stabilised and that the metro must be rebuilt. We cannot continue with the crisis of chaos in the metro.
“As we can see that there’s no party that has been given an outright mandate so the people must listen to what the voters are saying and start to make it work for everybody.”
Jack, who formed the Abantu Integrity Movement six months ago, says they now have a foot in the door.
Another political party making quiet in-roads in the Eastern Cape is the Freedom Front Plus, which won two seats in Nelson Mandela Bay.
The party’s campaign manager Wouter Wessels says they're happy about their breakthrough in the Eastern Cape and Nelson Mandela Bay in particular, where the party held one seat between 2006 and 2011.
“We are excited that the residents of the Eastern Cape and more specifically in Nelson Mandela Bay also now have a voice in council of Freedom Front Plus, which is voice of reason, a voice of principles. We have a steadfast policy and will serve the community.”
The party also has seats in several other Eastern Cape municipalities, including Buffalo City, Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality, Kouga and Koukamma Local Municipalities.
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