Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie has announced his party's intention to withdraw from the government of national unity (GNU) and its immediate exit from the ANC-run coalition government in the Johannesburg metro.
Talking to eNCA on Wednesday in the Western Cape, McKenzie said they are frustrated by mayor Dada Morero's failure to immediately reinstate Kenny Kunene as transport MMC.
This after the PA deputy leader was cleared of any wrongdoing following an inquiry into why he was at the home of murder accused Katiso 'KT' Molefe during a police arrest.
"We want to be treated with respect," McKenzie said. "We can't be treated like that by Dada Morero. He's got something against us, and we see it in how he treats the people of Westbury, he can't even give our people water."
Residents of Coronationville, Westbury and Newlands recently took to the streets to demand the city restore water to their area. The city initially promised to restore water within seven days, but after the period elapsed, Morero admitted the plan had failed and promised a new intervention to install a pipe to draw water from the Crosby reservoir.
McKenzie explained that the GNU partners had an agreement to follow an internal process to first try to resolve disputes as they arose, but no such agreement existed at local government level.
"So we are leaving immediately from the coalition and we giving intention to follow the processes to withdraw from the GNU."
SowetanLIVE, which reported the PA had given the metro until Monday to reinstate Kunene, quoted ANC Joburg spokesperson Masilo Serekele as saying the party will be meeting with the PA this week and will finalise discussions about the MMC vacancy.
“As the ANC, we know that we are in a coalition with the Patriotic Alliance, but what we will not appreciate is the PA putting a gun to our heads,” he said. “We will give the PA what is due to them in terms of our agreement. We believe the ultimatum is unnecessary; we should be able to go to the table and have an agreement.
“Kenny resigned as far as we are concerned,” Serekele said. “We have not received a formal communication from them [the PA] that he has been reinstated; we only saw media articles. After he has been reinstated, we will be able to take it from there, and things will go back to normal, but this unnecessary pressure they are putting on us is unwarranted.”
On Tuesday the PA said it welcomed the findings of an independent investigation by a law firm which cleared Kunene after he was found by police at Molefe's house.
PA secretary-general Chinelle Stevens said: “The report conclusively states that Mr Kunene’s explanation that he was at the property to facilitate an exclusive journalistic interview for Africa News Global has been fully corroborated by witness testimonies and evidence.”
As a consequence, the PA said Kunene’s suspension was lifted and he has resumed his duties as its deputy president.
McKenzie serves in the GNU as minister of sport, arts and culture. He said he would not be swayed by this: "We are not here for positions. I will go back to the ground and will see what the future holds."
TimesLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.