IFP and DA sign service delivery pact in KZN

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal have signed a pact to improve service delivery in hung municipalities.

IFP, DA service delivery pact

The agreement, which has been described as historic by both parties and has been six months in the making, was signed on Tuesday in Durban by provincial leaders of both parties.

The agreement follows the IFP and DA’s cooperation in recent by-elections to win wards from the African National Congress (ANC).

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According to the IFP and DA, they both share a strong commitment to constitutionalism, the rule of law and service delivery improvement. The parties also govern in various local municipalities across the country and are the only two of three parties that have governed a province in South Africa.

The parties have accused the ANC of “wrecking local government across KZN”, saying it is up to them to restore faith and trust in the political process, with the ultimate aim of unseating the ANC from power.

“That is why we believe we are able to come together and put the interests of citizens first,” the IFP and DA said in a joint statement.

“This shared agreement is a major turning point in the politics of our province and will bring much-needed stability to a number of municipalities where the IFP and DA work together.”

Some of the key objectives of the agreement include:

• Ensuring that communities have access to basic service delivery.
• Relieving residents and businesses from crippling load shedding by accessing affordable and sustainable electricity.
• Bringing in investment and jobs to the local economy and making it easier for businesses to trade.
• Supporting devolution of power within the constitutional and legislative framework.
• Eliminating corruption and patronage networks.
• Promoting multilingualism and enhancing SA’s heritage landscape.

15 priorities

The DA and IFP have also included 15 priorities that their joint caucuses will set to work on which are expected to change the landscape of local government in KZN if successfully implemented.

In the interests of transparency and to gain the trust of voters in these municipalities, the parties said they will also be publishing these agreements so that they can be held accountable.

“Both parties are aware of the immense responsibility that voters have entrusted us with and we dare not fail them,” the statement said.

“It is our collective view that we can achieve more together than separately, as well as being able to learn from one another.”

‘Moonshot pact’

The service delivery pact between the IFP and DA comes after the DA brought opposition parties together at the national level to form a “moonshot coalition” aimed at unseating the ANC in next year’s national and provincial elections.

Leaders of seven parties — the DA, IFP, the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), ActionSA, the National Freedom Party (NFP), the United Independent Movement (UIM) and the Spectrum National Party (SNP) — will hold a national convention on 16 and 17 August to try and negotiate a pre-election agreement.

The proposed pre-election coalition was first mooted by DA leader John Steenhuisen after his re-election in April. It excludes the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the United Democratic Movement (UDM), among other opposition parties.

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