Johannesburg – DA leader John Steenhuisen and the party’s Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille lambasted Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie for his U-turn on supporting opposition parties to form a coalition government in the City of Joburg.
The outburst against McKenzie followed his announcement on Tuesday that his party had agreed to form a coalition government with the ANC in Joburg.
Both Steenhuisen and Zille were of the view that McKenzie was only interested in “patronage networks and municipal tenders.”
The two made these comments while giving the media an update on coalition agreements reached between the DA and other parties in the Western and some parts of the Eastern Cape.
The DA in Gauteng also announced the election of Peter Teixeira as executive mayor of Midvaal Local Municipality in Meyerton outside Vereeniging in the Vaal on Tuesday.
Commenting on McKenzie’s U-turn, Zille said: “In fact, all that started at the results operation centre in Pretoria where Mr Gayton McKenzie openly said he is in for jobs for his people and money.”
Steenhuisen admitted that McKenzie’s decision, which was part of the meeting of opposition parties on Monday, would “narrow the path to power of opposition parties in Joburg”.
“For Gayton McKenzie it is all about patronage networks and how to influence the allocation of member mayoral council positions and dispensing of jobs to his pals. This would ultimately lead to the state capture of municipal entities. Even at our meeting on Monday, Mr McKenzie was only interested in positions for his party in the council,” said Steenhuisen.
The PA secured eight seats in the City of Joburg.
However, Steenhuisen was confident that the control of the City of Tshwane by the opposition was possible without the PA.
He said a government in Tshwane could be formed by a coalition of the DA, ACDP, Cope and Freedom Front Plus.
Steenhuisen said their votes could add up to 108 seats required to take control of the City of Tshwane.
The DA leader also confirmed that his party was in support of the view that the City of Tshwane’s inaugural council meeting should be postponed until next week, to allow parties to form a coalition government.
He also said McKenzie was allegedly misleading people when he said the meeting of opposition parties collapsed on Monday, saying the opposite was true.
“All the parties agreed to give feedback to their respective national leaders and we agreed to continue holding bilateral meetings with other parties. The meeting on Monday was to bring together all the parties we had bilateral talks with, under one roof. We agreed to meet again soon,” Steenhuisen said.
He was corroborated by Zille, who said parties only made minor changes to their coalition documents which, she said, centred on accountability and service to the people.
McKenzie’s reaction will be added later.
Political Bureau