EFF teaching 'arrogant' DA a lesson with council boycott decision

The EFF has taken a decision to stay away from all council meetings of the DA-led coalitions to demonstrate to the DA that they cannot govern alone without smaller parties‚ the party said on Friday.

Both the councils of Tshwane and Johannesburg had to be adjourned on Thursday after the EFF caucuses did not attend the meetings. The ANC caucuses later staged a walkout‚ which prevented the council meetings from having a quorum. The EFF acts as kingmaker in these metros‚ as well as in municipalities in Limpopo.

"Following the actions of the DA in Nelson Mandela Metro which demonstrated an arrogance of power and white supremacy‚ we have decided to stay away from all other municipality council meetings governed by the DA-led opposition coalitions. Although the EFF is not part of any opposition coalition government‚ we have taken exception to the actions of the DA in Nelson Mandela Metro‚" the statement read.

UDM leader Bantu Holomisa had threatened to withdraw from the coalition in Nelson Mandela Bay‚ following the removal of deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani‚ who is a UDM member.

Holomisa has‚ however‚ decided not to withdraw from the coalition‚ but has opted to take the decision to court‚ where he has brought an application to interdict Bobani's removal and to have it reviewed and set aside‚ as the UDM argues it was unconstitutional and unlawful.

"The actions of the DA in Nelson Mandela Metro show that they believe that they can go on with governing without the support of smaller parties. This is why they have no patience in consultation with these parties‚ in particular at a national level‚" EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said in the statement.

He said they would stay away from the council meetings when the DA failed to respect smaller opposition parties.

"We will also be monitoring the situation in Nelson Mandela Metro to see if we will continue to stay away or even attend and not vote with any of the parties. As an organisation‚ we have been caught between two evils; white supremacy and arrogance on one hand‚ and the arrogance of corruption and kleptocracy on the other.

"In dealing with the DA it is always their way or the high way. They fail on all levels to appreciate the humility of being given power by other parties. They behave as though they won elections and thus can survive without smaller political parties. The DA did not win an election and thus it must respect this fact of having to work respectfully with smaller parties‚" Ndlozi said.

The DA went into a formal coalition with the UDM‚ Freedom Front Plus‚ Congress of the People and the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) following the local government elections in 2016.

"It is a fact that the 2016 elections outcome is such that we had to give the coalition of opposition parties a chance‚ at times led by the DA‚ to provide an alternative route out of the kleptocratic era the ANC has plugged us into.

"However‚ the DA is failing to hold the opposition parties together‚ through mature‚ patient and humble leadership. They employ the same approach of an arrogance of power that has characterised the Nationalist Party‚ and now the ANC‚ thus rendering the alternative opposition coalition local governments futile‚" Ndlozi said.

- BusinessLIVE