Inclusive government and decision-making in coalition ‘a lesson DA needs to learn’, says FF+

Some parties learn lessons faster than others. The Lambert’s Bay, Cederberg, by-election victory, claimed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) but actually won by a coalition, was a lesson in future coalition politics.

Do not bite the hand that prepared part of your meal. Freedom Front Plus (FF+) leader Corne Mulder put the DA in its place when the party claimed victory on Twitter yesterday without crediting its coalition partners – the FF+ and the Cederberg First ratepayers’ association. Without the partners, the DA would not have got over the line in the town’s ward 5.

Charles Cilliers of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) said: “We attracted 33.29% percent of the vote and the DA in real terms, only managed 30%. If it were not for the coalition votes that added 16% to their collective margin, Cederberg ward 5 would have had a PA councillor today.”

He said John Steenhuisen’s party was the little guy against Gayton McKenzie’s PA.

“Head-to-head we would have hammered them.”

ALSO READ: ‘There’s a bigger plot here’, says Mpho Phalatse on PA ditching DA-led coalition in Joburg

It was not until Mulder irately tweeted at the DA, correcting its lack of recognition of the coalition partners publicly, that the DA agreed to a joint statement acknowledging that it was a collective victory and not simply theirs.

Mulder said: “No matter that there was a tweet thanking us and Cederberg First on other social media channels. The point is that the DA created a false impression, on their primary propaganda channels, that the party had won the ward based on their own levels of support. And that was simply not true.”

Steenhuisen tweeted thanks and enthusiasm on this personal account.

“Great victory for the opposition coalition in Cederberg. Well done to all the DA activists and our partners in the community and other organisations that worked together to ensure that treachery would not stand.”

‘Simply unacceptable’

Yet, still visibly annoyed later in the day, Mulder said: “The DA’s leadership cannot try and wash their hands in innocence for what the party said. After all, I am sure they moderate the party’s news feeds. It is simply unacceptable.”

A DA statement at the end of the vote count on Wednesday night read: “The victory in Lambert’s Bay means that the ANC/ PA coalition government has been unseated and that the Cederberg municipality will now be governed by a multiparty coalition consisting of the DA, Freedom Front Plus and Cederberg First.

“We are assured by this development as it is the coalition’s aim to bring stability to the Cederberg municipality and to ensure that proper services are delivered to all residents.”

But lower down in the statement, the DA claimed all the votes: The results of the ward 5 by-election in Lambert’s Bay, Cederberg, are as follows: “DA – 45.74%”.

But this actually comprises almost a 16% input from its coalition partners.

Mulder said the debacle confirmed what other parties already perceive about the DA’s levels of arrogance.

DA spokesperson Richard Newton told The Citizen the party appreciated its coalition partners and pointed to the joint statement, the congratulatory tweets from Steenhuisen as well as the public thanks that it conveyed.

ALSO READ: DA’s Mpho Phalatse seeking personal cost order against City of Joburg Speaker

But Mulder said: “There needs to be a move toward inclusive government and decision-making in instances of coalition. It is a lesson the DA needs to learn and, as we start seeing increasingly, the ANC, too.”

– news@citizen.co.za