New eThekwini deputy mayor Zandile Myeni has warned that her quest for stability in the city does not mean she will be a “stooge” of the ANC.
Myeni, from the National Freedom Party (NFP), which only has one seat in the 222-seat council, was elected to the deputy mayor position over the IFP’s Mduduzi Nkosi in a delayed special council meeting last Friday. The ANC, the EFF and the bloc of smaller parties, which she is chairing, all voted in her favour.
Her election raised alarm bells with opposition parties in the council, prompting them to call her appointment “pointless” and questioned if she would have the necessary support to go against her alliance partners who have bigger numbers.
Myeni told TimesLIVE Premium her first order of business is to ensure stability in the troubled municipality, but she would not let that make her a proxy of the ruling party.
“There is that narrative that the deputy mayor will be a stooge of the ANC. Meaning that I will be a ‘yes madam’. I want to give assurance to the people of eThekwini that the nature of my character doesn’t allow that. Stability doesn’t mean that you will have a stooge for a deputy mayor,” she said.
Key to her pursuit for a stable leadership in the city will be her working relationship with mayor Mxolisi Kaunda. Myeni said though they are not friends and may differ ideologically, they both have a mutual understanding to serve citizens.
“The relationship that I have with the mayor is professional and political, we aren’t friends. We are from different schools of thought in terms of our political affiliation, but at the end of the day we owe it to the people of eThekwini, as the heads of this city, to make sure we don’t compromise service delivery,” said Myeni.
The main reason for the downfall of her predecessor Philani Mavundla, president of Abantu-Batho Congress, was the breakdown of his relationship with Kaunda and the bloc of smaller parties.
That resulted in the bloc expelling Mavundla’s ABC and other smaller parties who sided with him, cutting the bloc from 13 parties to 10.
I can play the game. I understand that you come to a decision because you have the consensus, I know the tricks.
— Zandile Myeni, new eThekwini deputy mayor
The breakdown in the bloc was highlighted at Friday's council meeting where three parties opposed a motion of no confidence in Kaunda and Myeni’s election.
She said the ANC-NFP coalition had proved it can lead stable municipalities in the province, even with other parties involved, referencing the Dumbe municipality where the mayor is from the NFP and deputy from the ANC, as well as in uKhahlamba with a mayor from APEMO, deputy from the ANC and speaker from NFP.
“Coalitions and stability is something that can be achieved,” she said.
Referring to the addition of the EFF to the alliance, Myeni acknowledged that working with parties they differ with ideologically, could be challenging.
However, she said the NFP has worked well with the EFF in the past.
Next to the ANC with 95 seats, the EFF brings the second biggest number of councillors to the bloc with 24 seats.
“We have worked with the EFF informally in other municipalities. Now our hegemony has expanded because they’re on board,” she said.
“There are challenges, but we are looking forward to working with them. Provincially, priority number one is to take back these other municipalities governed by the IFP. First stop is kwaNongoma municipality, watch this space.”
Her political journey has seen her hold a leadership position in student politics as a deputy SRC president at university, being in the IFP youth brigade, before being a founding member of the NFP in 2011 and provincial secretary-general. Myeni said she was now a “seasoned politician” who understood that politics was a game of numbers.
“I can play the game. I understand that you come to a decision because you have the consensus, I know the tricks,” she said.
Myeni added that the country had reached a stage where it needed to accept that coalitions were the “new normal”.
“We need a section that talks deeply about party coalitions. Not this approach that we have at the moment that is not specific. We don’t have something deeper that talks about coalitions,” she said.
She also challenged the department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs to put forward a proper framework to govern coalitions.
“Cogta has a responsibility to review their laws and include something in Municipal Structures Act and other legislation, that talks directly about coalitions because they are the new normalcy. If they are not managed in terms of legislature we will continue seeing court battles and votes of no-confidence,” she said.
“We need something which will be legislated that will speak about coalitions or management of coalitions.”
“When you look at all these legislations: I’m the chair of the bloc, but there is nothing in the legislation that talks about what a bloc is. It’s an informal structure, but moving forward the blocs will be part of our lives, so there has to be something. Cogta research how, in different municipalities, there are these parties and how they are organising themselves.”
She said it was natural that the “progressive forces” — the alliance between the ANC, the bloc of smaller parties and the EFF — would disagree sometimes. However, theirs is to ensure those disagreements do not hinder service delivery.
“What is important is not about who will buy my view. It is critical that we engage each other and debate our points to get a buy-in of the consensus.
“The notion of saying it’s politically correct or wrong to have the EFF agreeing with me or the ANC is not an issue for debate to me. We have a responsibility to show people that we care for service delivery.
“Caring for service delivery does not mean we should always say yes. These are different political parties with different ideologies, but it means that there must be a willingness. Yes, there will be differences, but we will try to rise above.”
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