EFF’s #CoalitionPlans: Will it be Mayor Mashaba in Johannesburg?

The EFF #CoalitionPlans presser is taking place under a tent against the backdrop of Alexandra township. It is dusty and windy and there is no ignoring the sight of the improvised housing of the working class.

Mbuyiseni Ndlozi is the first on the scene. He stresses the importance of the view of Alexandra for the cameras.

Julius Malema sets off explaining how he was called to a meeting with the ANC’s Paul Mashatile, David Makhura and the Provincial Secretary, but the EFF wanted to talk to national leadership, not provincial leadership.

The EFF offered these conditions to the ANC:
– Take 6% offer to amend constitution about land
– Nationalise mines and banks
– Free education
– Die Stem must be removed from national anthem
– Eradicate e-tolls in Gauteng
– No nuclear deal with Russia
– A judicial enquiry into Guptas
– Zuma must leave or be recalled

The ANC asked for opportunity to reflect with collective and was noncommittal on all issues. Malema says the ANC denied the existence of a nuclear deal, and regarding the Guptas, they would rather establish commission on state capture. They refused to recall Zuma. In light of the nuclear deal and the plans Zuma and his “kleptocracy” have for South Africa, Malema said: “rather call me a sell-out for siding with the whites than letting SA go into ruin with the ANC”.

So, no coalition with the ANC, then.

As for the DA, Malema calls them a party of “white racists”, but proposed similar conditions when the EFF met with the DA for coalition negotiations. While the DA are amenable to removing Die Stem, they say they have no power to expropriate land without compensation – something the EFF has always taken a hard line on. As a result, the EFF will not enter into a coalition with the DA, but because the EFF considers the DA “the lesser of two devils”.

Malema confirms that while the EFF will remain an opposition party, they are willing to vote with the DA in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay. Malema says the EFF has a “small condition for the DA” in Johannesburg though, before the DA wins any of its votes. He says that the EFF will vote for the DA in certain instances because the EFF won’t compromise on service delivery due to ideological differences.

In Kwazulu Natal, the EFF will support the IFP and in Rustenburg, Malema confirms that all the opposition parties will be voting together.

Sthembile Mbete explained to The Daily Vox what the  EFF’s decision not to join any coalitions means for local governance. She said that coalitions are regarded as more stable, because different parties have come together in the same government structures.   

“A coalition is inherently more stable than a minority government because people have bought into the same thing and are therefore accountable to each other,” said Mbete. “While there may be more uncertainty when it comes to minority government, it does mean that politicians are more accountable and have to work together with others to achieve their goals.”

Featured image by Mohammed Jameel Abdulla