DA announces coalition agreement with four opposition parties

17 August 2016 - 17:33 By Natasha Marrian And Genevieve Quintal

The DA has signed a coalition agreement with four opposition parties and has welcomed the Economic Freedom Fighters saying it would vote with opposition parties to form governments instead of the African National Congress. DA leader Mmusi Maimane said the 2016 local election was critical in accelerating the realignment of SA politics as the party prepares to govern the capital‚ Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape.The parties are the Congress of the People‚ the United Democratic Movement‚ the African Christian Democratic Party and the Freedom Front Plus.EFF will help DA take Joburg, Tshwane - but there will be no coalitionsThe EFF will vote for the DA in Johannesburg‚ Tshwane‚ Nelson Mandela Bay and Ekurhuleni‚ but it has rejected a formal coalition with the party‚ EFF leader Julius Malema said on Wednesday. He hailed the polls as a moment as ushering a new form of SA'S democratic dispensation. The coalition agreement is centred on commitments in terms of how municipalities should be governed."The agreements seek to put SA first‚" Maimane said.It includes issues such as appointments‚ transparent open tenders‚ a "fit for purpose" executive‚ zero tolerance for corruption and Maimane hinted that blue lights would not be tolerated.He said the DA did not enter into any agreements with the EFF. "Welcome the offer they made today that they will vote for us‚ there is no coalition‚" Maimane said.The difficult task of establishing councils to ensure that they delivered to all South Africans would now begin‚ he said.The DA won 43 percent of the vote in Tshwane while the ANC got 41 percent and the EFF 12 percent. In Johannesburg, the ANC won 45 percent, the DA 38 percent and the EFF 11 percent.The ruling party suffered its worst result since the end of apartheid, garnering less than 54 percent of ballots cast nationally -- an eight percentage point drop from the last local poll in 2011.- TMG Digital/BDlive with additional reporting by Reuters, AFP..

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