DA Coalition Retains Control Of Cape Town 3
A deal has been reached between Mayor Zille and MEC for Local Government Richard Diyanti that will see the DA coalition retain control of the executive mayoral committee. In return two new subcouncils are to be created with extra ward committees. I assume those new subcouncils will be ANC controlled.
This seems to be quite a PR victory for the DA who managed to successfully go toe to toe with the ANC.
The biggest losers though are the ID. If the DA and ANC start working more closely together they will be completely left out in the cold. When (if?) the floor crossing period opens again I expect them to take a serious hit. Which is why they’re trying to take credit for the ANC backing down, as can be seen in this quote from ID caucus leader Simon Grindrod:“We are glad that the ANC heeded our call to ‘immediately halt this power grab’,” says Grindrod.
Well, we will see how long a deal will last. I liked Richard Dyanti’s statement that he will not change the system “at this point.” He left it open for the possibility of retracting the deal if the chaos and disorder continue in Cape Town and if the DA fails to make substance of the concessions it made regarding the bantustan-style subcouncil demarcations by the DA. I think the issue of changing the council structure in Cape Town will be revisited in only a few months time before Helen Zille makes a bigger mess of things in Cape Town. The unstable nature of the 7-party coalition which could collapse at any time unexpected is unsustainable in the long run. I expect more instablitity in Cape Town is in store.
Considering Mufamadi and national government got involved I would think the deal is pretty solid. The ANC in the W. Cape is very divided at the moment with the Rasool and Skwatsha camps barely speaking to each other according to some reports so I don’t think Diyanti can raise the issue again without causing parts of the ANC provincial party structure to go into open revolt.
Dyanti does not surface from this debacle well. I agree with Farrel. Don’t hold your breath for any more chamges. Oh, and the ‘chaos and disorder’ is not much in evidence anywhere.