Coalition likely in Tshwane with ANC in ‘critical condition’

The ANC’s nominees for mayoral candidates have not yet been announced, the party in Tshwane is in a “critical condition” and the metro could again be governed by multiparty coalitions, predicted an analyst.

The capital city’s street poles are already filled with posters of different mayoral candidates for the highly contested metro.

Current Democratic Alliance (DA) mayor Randall Williams is again up for the post while Abel Tau is Action SA’s nominee.

The red posters across Tshwane only state “Vote EFF” because the party said it would only announce its candidates after the fact.

“The mayoral candidate is the EFF. The EFF will give you the mayor after the elections. Just trust the EFF,” said Tshwane EFF leader Obakeng Ramabodu.

Although President Cyril Ramaphosa launched the ANC’s manifesto at Church Square in Tshwane last week, the partyhas not put forward its mayoral candidates, despite less than four weeks to go to voting day.

But that was probably because the ANC was going through a “tumultuousphase”, including the suspension of a secretary-general and disgruntled and unpaid staff members who were not eager to work, said political analyst Professor Barry Hanyane.

“My understanding is that some measures of implosion have started to surface and this leads to internal administrative inefficiencies,” he said. It was likely a coalition government would again control the city, said Hanyane.

“There are issues in the ANC and some may linger and continue to influence the outcome of the elections.

“Already we know that the ANC in Tshwane needs to be urgently admitted into ICU.

“The term, unity, is simply foreign to them,” he said.

– rorisangk@citizen.co.za