Politics.za: ID Changes Tack... Again

ID Changes Tack... Again

Farrel — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 13:11:00 -0400

With the seasons slowly turning to summer I guess it’s about time the ID changes their political direction in Cape Town for , I think, the fourth time this year. They will now oppose any attempts by Local Government MEC Richard Diyanti to dissolve the executive mayoral system in Cape Town in favor of an system based on an executive committee, despite having been committed to an executive committee system since before the local elections.

I’m guessing the ID did this because if (when?) Diyanti changes the structure of the council the ID will probably be the biggest losers. They had a near uprising after they voted for the ANC mayoral electoral candidate and should the ANC get more power in the current council they probably foresaw a voter backlash (such as what happened in the Tafelsig by-election) hitting them again.

Let’s chronicle the ID’s history of flip flopping:

1. Before the local election it is widely assumed (by most of their voters judging by the letters to the press after point 2 occurs) the ID and DA would form some alliance.

2. The ID decides to vote for the ANC mayoral candidate.

3. Following the media beat down the ID states they will never vote in such a way that Helen Zille is taken out of power.

4. ID sticks to idea of executive committee system (although it would potentially remove any power from Zille) and state they will support it in court should the DA fight Diyanti in that arena.

5. ID decide to abandon that idea and now apologise for ever supporting the ANC in the mayoral elections in the first place.

"ID Changes Tack... Again" by Garth

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 10:42:50 -0400

So the 25% of voters who did not vote anc in gauteng do not count.

But the 40% who voted anc in cape town must be considered. Only a politician would undrstand this ‘logic’.

"ID Changes Tack... Again" by kevinadrianhughes@yahoo.com

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 18:14:32 -0400

The difference with Gauteng is that the ANC has 75% support but in the Western Cape it is about half that hence the need for broad-based inclusive government. Look at KZN. Local governments there are based on the inclusive model of executive committees. The same needs to happen in Cape Town or we’ll have a conflict situation there in a few years time.

"ID Changes Tack... Again" by Garth

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 17:05:31 -0400

“Donovan I agree with you logic that we need to have a broad-based inclusive government in Cape Town. “

What about us up in Gauteng? When can we expect to see broad based inclusive government? Or does this twisted logic only apply where the anc is in danger of losing power?

"ID Changes Tack... Again" by kevinadrianhughes@yahoo.com

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 11:28:15 -0400

Donovan, I agree wholeheartedly with you. I am bitterly disappointed with Zille too. I think the DA has abandoned any pretenses of liberalism and has now become the “new right” in SA politics that is supported and paid for by former NP white supporters. I think if de Lille and the ID get in bed with Helen Zille’s government then they will rightfully be portrayed as stooges and sellouts to a white-led and financed party. Donovan I agree with you logic that we need to have a broad-based inclusive government in Cape Town. I think that if Zille does not want to cooperate in such an inclusive arrangement she is free to do so. I also think that should Zille pull a UDI and frustrate Dyantyi’s process which is legal under the terms of the Municipal Systems Act, then the MEC may have no choice but to put Cape Town under administative rule. The choice is Zille’s. No court not even the Cape High Court will hear Zille’s case as Dyantyi’s decision is based on legal grounds. Once the new executive committee is set up Helen Zille is free to join it or not and she is free to be nominated for the ceremonial post or not. This is not a difficult issue despite the media melodrama that tends to sympathize with Helen Zille who herself is a journalist.

"ID Changes Tack... Again" by Donovan

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 10:02:59 -0400

Pasted below is a newspaper report from SAPA that was published in the daily Mail and Guardian. It sort of balances the views being expressed by De Lille.

More importantly though is that I do agree that voters with the ID would probably never side with the ANC and therefore could feel hard done by the ID’s support of the ANC after the election. However, what they do not take into account is that the DA led by Zille wanted the ID to be Zille’s lapdog. And secondly the ID also believed that a coalition between the three strongest parties would be the best stability for Cape Town. In previous ocassions it has always been two (DP-NNP or ANC-NNP) and never three. Stability would assist service delivery to the poor. And this is the fundamental difference. The DA is not bothered about anything else except keeping the ANC out. And the DA is not worried about the poor.

For the record I am not an ID supporter, but I have been very dissapointed by Helen Zille, since I thought she would be a much more progressive DA leader than her colleagues. but she has only proven that she is no different. Sad but true.

ID accuses Zille of ‘great arrogance’ Cape Town, South Africa 17 October 2006 01:45 The Independent Democrats (ID) have accused Cape Town mayor Helen Zille of arrogance and contempt for her decision not to meet Western Cape local government minister Richard Dyantyi.

The claim came from ID caucus leader Simon Grindrod, in an address to Dyantyi on Tuesday at a gathering called by the provincial minister to hear views on his proposal to change the city’s system of government.

The proposal will strip Zille of her executive powers.

Zille and her Democratic Alliance, and the DA’s six coalition partners in the city government boycotted the meeting, which was attended only by the ID and the African National Congress.

Grindrod, whose party leader Patricia de Lille on Sunday apologised for backing an ANC mayor earlier this year and declared that her party would oppose Dyantyi’s move, said the ID believed it was very important to hear the minister’s position “first hand”.

“The DA and their coalition partners have shown great arrogance and contempt in not attending as requested,” he said.

“On the one hand, Helen Zille complains that her democratically elected position is not being recognised. In the same breath she openly disrespects the office of a provincial minister.”

He also said the DA decision to stick to the executive mayoral system despite promising in their local government election manifesto to abolish it “stinks to the high heavens of hypocrisy”.

The ID wanted an executive committee system - as in Dyantyi’s proposal - but not under these circumstances.

The ID would continue to fight for an executive committee through the ballot box, and not through the courts. – Sapa

"ID Changes Tack... Again" by DA Mal

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 05:12:32 -0400

Hell freezes over before a politician apologises in public. Genuine apologies are normally forthcoming only at the point of resignation.

So what happened to precipitate this? You are probably right that Dyantyi’s move won’t improve the ID’s position in the council, so that’s one good reason.

But the ID is deeply unstable, and the Cape Town council caucus is presided over by Grindrod whose sycophantic behaviour can’t possibly endear him to his subordinates. I suspect that threats to abandon ship have been formally made, that ultimatums have been presented.

We shall see if De Lille follows through with further rapprochements to the multi-party government.