ANC should be grateful to the EFF’s flip-flop approach

When former City of Joburg speaker Vasco da Gama was removed through a vote of no confidence in the council, The Citizen was among the first to say: mayor Mpho Phalatse was next. The writing was on the wall for the Pretoria-born medical doctor.

Political dynamics were at play in the whole saga. During her campaign prior to the November local elections, Phalatse asked the residents of Joburg to give her a birthday gift by voting her in as their mayor. Her wish was granted.

But this year, before she could celebrate her next birthday on 7 November, she is out – removed from the seat in an ANC-led plot.

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Her removal should be seen as part of political dynamics that come with democracy. It’s revenge time for the small parties that now side with the ANC against the DA, after it excluded them in the post-election multiparty coalition government.

Being a member of the mayoral committee is vital for the tiny parties, as the income received by its member sustains them financially.

Coalitions in SA are not about the interest of the people, but about power-mongering by the politicians. In the process of trying to outdo each other, the ANC and the DA often use the vulnerability of the smaller parties by roping them in to participate in their regular cat fights.

In turn, the smaller parties become willing participants in this dirty game because they benefit. That is why some of them feel special to be called kingmakers, despite having no power of their own.

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In Johannesburg, there was a sudden change in the balance of forces – the pendulum that swung in the DA’s favour last year has moved to the ANC’s side this year.

The ANC should be grateful to the EFF’s flip-flop approach. The EFF was at loggerheads with the ANC not so long ago, working hard to deprive it of any access to power in all the Gauteng metros. Today, the EFF and the ANC are on the same side, fighting the DA.

There was a stage in Nelson Mandela Bay when both the DA and the ANC had to literally beg Gayton McKenzie’s Patriotic Alliance (PA) for its vote because it held the balance of power. As a result, the PA would play the game to its advantage, making expensive demands from both parties. These small parties are killing our democracy instead of enriching it.

I agree with the ANC: no matter whether Phalatse succeeds in court in reversing Dada Morero’s election as mayor, she can’t change the fact that the balance of forces are not in her favour right now. Even if the courts order a fresh start and proper procedure is followed, the results will be the same.

Another dynamic was the fact that Congress of the People (Cope) councillor Colleen Makhubele was voted in as speaker of the council by ANC and its allies, against Cope’s wishes. But it later turned out that, as part of Cope’s ensuing feud, Makhubele had Cope president Terror Lekota’s back in her betrayal of the former governing coalition.

ALSO READ: In City of Joburg, the real deal was between the ANC and the PA

In all this toenadering, residents of Johannesburg are the ones who suffer. We should be honest that there is a vast difference between ANC-led and DA-led governments. While the DA is notorious for favouring the white elites, including big business, in its dealings, it masters service delivery and governance.

However, the same cannot be said about ANC, unfortunately. As residents of the city, we beg the ANC to prove us wrong.