Cape Town – The ANC in the Eastern Cape was gunning for Nelson Mandela Bay, with provincial chairperson Oscar Mabuyane saying they would finalise negotiations with coalition partners.
Mabuyane told the extended Provincial Executive Committee yesterday that the National Executive Committee would announce mayoral candidates for the province.
He said they needed to finalise the issue of the hung councils.
Nelson Mandela Bay metro did not get an outright majority.
There was also no outright winner in Dr Beyers Naude municipality and Kou-Kamma municipality in the Eastern Cape.
However, Mabuyane said they wanted to go for Nelson Mandela Bay metro.
The meeting of the metro was postponed this week after MEC for Cooperative Governance Xolile Nqatha wrote to acting municipal manager Anele Qaba that he was not lawfully appointed to the position by former mayor and DA mayoral candidate Nqaba Bhanga.
Mabuyane said Nelson Mandela Bay should not fall in the wrong hands.
“Since the conclusion of the 2021 local government elections, we have been busy preparing to form councils in the municipalities that we will govern in our province. This work has entailed engaging in negotiations for hung municipalities, particularly the Nelson Mandela Bay metro. The election results in that metro once again point to a coalition government, and it is in the interest of the ANC as a leader of society to ensure that there is a government that works better for the people of Nelson Mandela Bay metro,” Mabuyane told the PEC.
“That metro is very strategic for our provincial developmental goals and should therefore not fall in the wrong hands. We cannot ignore the fact that in Nelson Mandela Bay metro 207 000 people voted for our organisation and those voters expect us to do everything in our power to be the government that will serve their interests and the entire population of that metro,” he said.
He accused some of the parties of negotiating in bad faith in the three hung municipalities in the Eastern Cape.
The DA and ANC have not secured an outright majority.
Small parties are discussing with the two parties to form coalitions.
“We have three hung municipalities in the province. We also note that there are some who are negotiating in bad faith because they want to use the coalition negotiations to smuggle their failed manifestos,” said Mabuyane.
The Nelson Mandela Bay metro will hold its meeting on Monday after Qaba postponed it this week.
The DA and other parties had expressed disappointment at this, saying they were ready to elect a mayor.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Political Bureau