By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) head of elections Fikile Mbalula says the party will work with communities from the opposition benches in municipalities where it doesn’t govern.
Mbalula briefed the media on Thursday on the outcome of local elections.
The ANC dropped to below 50% of the national vote and lost power in the three Gauteng metros.
Mbalula said the party has been able to form coalitions in the Nelson Mandela Bay and eThekwini metros.
“We acknowledge and welcome the role played by a number of parties who have agreed to co-operate with the ANC in pursuit of the objective of building better communities and improving the lives of the people of these municipalities.
“In totality, the ANC received a clear mandate in the majority of local areas. We do acknowledge, however, that we have not done well in others. Of the total votes cast throughout the country, the ANC received 45.6% of the popular vote and a majority in 167 councils.”
But he admitted that many South Africans are not happy with the ANC.
“During our election campaign, the ANC heard the concerns of the people. We will ensure that our programs respond to these needs and concerns. We value the input and counsel from our people.
“We will ensure that our public representatives honour the commitments made in our local government election manifesto.
“We will ensure accountability and responsiveness from our representatives through contracts of deployment and performance agreements. We will work to ensure transparency and people-centred governance.”
Mbalula denied claims by the EFF that the ANC was only interested in discussing power sharing and not engage in terms of principle.
“We didn’t reach that stage in our discussions. The EFF called off the talks and said they would not talk to the ANC. We had one meeting and were supposed to meet again only to find out they had pulled the plug on our talks,” said Mbalula.
Mbalula went on a rant over the SABC. He said through its Service Delivery Gauge program, the public broadcaster de-campaigned the ANC by going to municipalities governed by the party and somewhat encouraging people not to vote.
He said the SABC waited until after the elections to go to Khayelitsha and show the DA’s failings.
“We don’t have a problem with the SABC but we are just pointing out that they contributed to people not going out to vote,” said Mbalula.
Mbalula also confirmed that there were calls from within the party for members of its national executive committee (NEC) to resign following a dismal showing at the municipal elections and taxing coalition negotiations.
Meanwhile the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal ditched the coalition agreement Luthuli House reached with the IFP because provincial leaders had a long-standing agreement with Abantu Batho Congress leader Philani Mavundla.
ANC leaders tried to lobby smaller parties to no avail, but Mavundla was eventually convinced by Provincial leader Sihle Zikalala and provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli.
Zikalala confirmed former president Jacob Zuma’s involvement, but said he and Ntuli led the negotiations.
“I do believe Nxamalala [Zuma] called him because they know each other. Mavundla even told me that, but it was after we had already spoken and had an agreement – the process was led by myself and [Ntuli].”