Rustenburg council still in balance, but opposition has enough to eject ANC

By Lizeka Tandwa

Johannesburg – It is still unclear who will be taking over the Rustenburg municipality, even after a pronouncement by EFF leader Julius Malema that the Forum for Service Delivery (F4SD) will govern with the red berets’ votes in the municipality.

The ANC won 43 seats in council, failing to reach an outright majority in the municipality.

However, should the smaller parties form a coalition, combined they would have 46 council seats beating the ANC and taking away from them the platinum belt of South Africa.

Julius Malema, the firebrand leader of South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) addresses his supporters. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko.
Julius Malema, the firebrand leader of South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) addresses his supporters. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko.

The EFF won 24 seats, the DA took 14. The F4SD won four seats. The United Democratic Movement, the African Independent Congress (AIC) and FF Plus each have one seat.

FF Plus leader Pieter Mulder told News24 that Malema’s announcement on Rustenburg had come as a surprise given that there had been no discussions about ” possible co-operations there yet”.  He did not, however, rule out any talks.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane said his party had delegated power down to the province. “Our principle commitment still remains [that] we must put an opposition government there as well. At this point in time the discussions are still taking place and the Rustenburg council has been postponed,” Maimane told journalists.

Maimane added that it was crucial that opposition leads in Rustenburg to ensure that services are delivered and corruption is eradicated.

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F4SD would be meeting with a DA delegation on Wednesday evening to finalise its talks, its media liaison Bosa Ledwaba said.

“We are still in talks with other smaller parties. We will make a pronouncement before Friday,” she said.

Meanwhile, the City of Ekurhuleni announced that the inaugural council meeting planned for Friday had been postponed to Tuesday, August 23, when a mayor and speaker would be elected. – News24

Source: http://www.news24.com/Elections/News/rustenburg-coalition-talks-still-fuzzy-20160817

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