OPINION: Will the ANC break its coalition partnership with the EFF in Gauteng?
Residents say there are no easy answers to why the ANC national leadership allowed the coalition partnership with the EFF in Gauteng when it didn't approve of it from the word go?
• Thabile Mange writes:
What is the relationship between the ANC and EFF, besides that the red berets are an offshoot of the governing party? Do the two political parties have a cordial relationship? There are no easy answers.
In Gauteng, the provincial ANC enjoys good relations with the EFF. Not only that but also that the two have gone into a coalition partnership in certain municipalities like Joburg and Ekurhuleni. Yet the ANC national leadership disapproves of that.
Not long ago, the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) decided that the ANC should break its coalition partnership with the EFF in Gauteng, saying the red berets are eating away from their votes. The ANC Gauteng leader was part of that meeting and didn’t object.
According to media reports, the ANC in Joburg and Ekurhuleni are more than ready to divorce the EFF as a coalition partner. However, the provincial leadership is dragging its feet to implement the national decision.
It is an open secret that the Gauteng Premier is in favour of the coalition partnership with the EFF. He enjoys good relations with the EFF leader. When Juju was axed from the ANC, the Gauteng Premier said his party had made the wrong move.
In all the coalition partnerships that the EFF is involved in, the red berets are non-committal. They don’t sign coalition agreements. Yet they want to control things. And when things go wrong, it distances itself. When things go well, it claims victory. In other words, Juju’s party is problematic in these partnerships.
Previously the EFF was in a coalition partnership with the DA in Joburg and Tshwane. The partnership didn’t work out in both cities. The official opposition has since taken a decision not to sleep with the EFF ever again, and it is sticking to it.
The pertinent question is: why did the ANC national leadership allow the coalition partnership with the EFF in Gauteng, when it didn’t approve of it from the word go? And why is it allowing Lesufi and his gang to drag their feet in implementing its decision? Does the centre hold? There are no easy answers.
