ANC divided on DA ahead of crucial coalition decision | News24

- There are strong feelings within the ANC’s leadership about continued cooperation with the DA.

- While one contingent argues that it is best for stability and aligns with the ANC’s constitutional values, another says the DA is against transformation policies.

- The ANC national executive committee is set to meet on Thursday to decide its position on coalitions and the future of the country’s metros.

- For more political news, visit News24 Politics.

The ANC national working committee (NWC), which met on Monday, did not reach a decision on whether to cooperate with the DA and replicate the government of national unity at the local level.

In part, this is because the final decision on coalitions can only be made by the national executive committee (NEC), which sits on Thursday. But it is also because the NWC is divided on the issue and several other strategic questions arising from the election.

Three models are on the table: a coalition with the DA; a coalition including ActionSA, the EFF and smaller parties; and, thirdly, striking a deal with the DA, where it governs alone in metros where it is the biggest party and the ANC does the same. In this instance, the ANC and DA would back each other up with a confidence and supply agreement to vote together to elect mayors and oppose no-confidence votes.

The ANC’s top seven officials will present the options to the NEC, where anti-DA sentiment has been running strong in the lead-up to the election.

The ANC’s strategic approach to coalitions was adopted by the NEC in May 2024.

- the largest party should lead the coalition and form the government; and

- the ANC should only enter into coalitions with parties that share its commitment to constitutional values.

As the EFF and MK Party do not share these values, the paper says they should not be considered coalition partners.

Those in the NWC who believe a coalition with the DA is the best option insist that, as the policy document has never been withdrawn or changed, it remains the ANC’s guiding document.

However, in practice, it has been ignored in all three Gauteng metros and in Nelson Mandela Bay by defiant provincial and local politicians.

An alternative to a DA coalition that was mooted in the NWC is the confidence and supply proposal, which would see the DA govern alone in the three Gauteng metros and Nelson Mandela Bay, while the ANC takes Mangaung and Buffalo City. An advantage of this option is that the influence of smaller parties is removed, and government is stabilised.

Both options were argued to be in the interest of stability, unlike the coalitions in the Gauteng metros, which have seen executive power change hands frequently.

While there is no resolution, strong reservations were expressed about the ANC’s ability to survive in opposition, with the experience of the Western Cape provincial legislature and the City of Cape Town standing as a cautionary tale. In these examples, since being booted out of government, the ANC has returned through successive elections, with a diminishing share of the vote.

The arguments against another partnership with the DA centre on its adversarial stance, capped last month by its opposition to the ANC’s Constitutional Court appeal to allow its electoral candidates to stand for election.

A non-DA coalition would, however, require a partnership with Herman Mashaba’s ActionSA. This was condemned as foolish by several participants, who argued that it would set up ActionSA for further growth.

ActionSA’s success in this election came from winning wards from the ANC. Unlike the DA, whose base is largely among minorities and has struggled to get black votes, it is clear that ActionSA has the potential to become a significant threat to the ANC in 2029.

This argument will be weighed against the prevailing anti-DA sentiment in the NEC.

On Tuesday, groups that oppose a coalition with the DA were in campaign mode. Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi circulated a video clip of an interview with the DA mayoral candidate for Tshwane, Cilliers Brink, in which Brink describes the ANC as “weak”. The clip provoked angry responses from ANC supporters.

ANC Youth League president Collen Malatji told journalists that a coalition with the DA was a threat to the ANC’s transformational programme and a “no-go area”.

He said:

In Nelson Mandela Bay metro, where the ANC (25.5%) is now dwarfed by the DA (44%), popular ANC politician Andile Lungisa said, in the wake of the results, that “we will never again hand over our communities to the enemy forces”, suggesting he is up for a fight at the NEC, despite the choice made by communities that have voted.