Phiwokuhle Mothemela
Talks between key political parties on creating governments of local unity may have been dealt a setback following the ousting of Cilliers Brink as the Democratic Alliance’s mayor of Tshwane.
On Friday, ActionSA's Dr Nasiphi Moya was elected as the new mayor following a landslide victory over Brink who was ousted in a recent no-confidence vote tabled by the ANC.
Before Friday’s vote, the chairperson of the DA’s federal council Helen Zille warned that this would impact talks to create stable local governments in metropolitan areas.
Speaking in Nelson Mandela Bay on Thursday, Zille said “Unfortunately, when the ANC removed Cilliers Brink as our mayor in Tshwane, we couldn’t continue in good faith in other metropolitan areas,” she told reporters.
Zille was in the Metro to join the Democratic Alliance Student Organisation’s victory celebration at Nelson Mandela University, following a landslide SRC election win.
She said when the parties negotiated the Government of National Unity and made a statement of intent, it was always envisaged that ‘we’ would move to local government, and get governments of local unity possibly in certain places.
Zille said there were discussions at a local level between the DA and the ANC, including in Nelson Mandela Bay, on creating stable local governments going into the next election.
“We need good faith on both sides, and the ANC showed us that they were not prepared to act in good faith,” Zille said.
