Johannesburg - The Patriotic Alliance (PA), dubbed as the kingmakers after clinching 80 council seats in the 2021 local government elections, says it is more than 90% done with forming its coalitions.
There are more than 60 hung municipalities across the country, including the highly contested Gauteng metros, namely the City of Ekurhuleni and City of Tshwane.
The PA has eight seats in the City of Joburg and one in Tshwane.
The party now says it is gunning for MMC posts in these two metros.
PA president Gayton McKenzie from the onset made it clear that the party was negotiating on its own terms and believes that there is no big party when it comes to a coalition.
“We are 99% done, unlike other pirates that are talking, they have a problem that we don’t have. We said at the beginning, we will negotiate with anybody; even if the AWB still existed, we would have been able to talk to them. As I said to DA’s Helen Zille and ActionSA’s president Herman Mashaba, as a leader of PA I don’t have the luxury to say we must go to opposition benches until 2024, because the people I represent and who voted for us don’t have jobs now, no food or money now, so I can’t come and put my ego first,” said McKenzie.
He added that the PA was ready to speak to anyone who would give people a chance at power because power is jobs and other service delivery.
McKenzie further highlighted that they had held meetings with leaders of the ANC and spoken about the power-sharing agreement and the talks have concluded.
“We have agreed that we will support the ANC in Johannesburg, we will take two MMC seats. We have spoken in Ekurhuleni and we will get one MMC seat, we will take a seat at Emfuleni Municipality and take two MMC seats at Rand West. We will take two MMC seats at JB Marks, and take two MMC seats at Knysna. We have concluded with the ANC and other small partners,” McKenzie said.
He added: “We have missed this boat, but when the PA takes over in 2024 we are starting by the hospitals. Those ones that are sick are the easiest ones which we are going to deport because they burden our health system.”
He blamed the government for the influx of illegal foreigners.
“I want to make one thing clear, there is going to be xenophobic violence if we don’t act as leaders. People on the ground where I have worked are angry. South Africans who come from the Bantu education era have not had the opportunity to be educated as other races. Now people must compete with people with degrees doing work that must be done by an unskilled person.
“If I was the president of this country I would close the country for five days to get rid of illegal foreigners. When I am done with them, I come for the legal foreigners. There is no war in Zimbabwe, there is no war,” he said.
McKenzie reiterated that he is not a poor man and did not go into politics for a career, since he has never received a salary from politics and does not need politics to feed him, but he is there for the people if they know the power that they have.
ntombi.nkosi@inl.co.za
Political Bureau