If the DA does not contact the EFF’s national leadership, the red berets will not sign a petition that calls for a special council meeting to remove the ANC-led coalition from power in Nelson Mandela Bay.
This is according to EFF regional chair Khanya Ngqisha.
The DA, ACDP, AIC, AIM, FF+, PAC and UDM signed a coalition agreement in July, but only have a combined 56 seats in council.
The opposition parties would need 61 seats to take over the running of the metro.
The EFF has eight seats in the council.
Ngqisha said the DA’s leadership was not willing to put aside its differences with the EFF to work together.
“The DA needs to engage with our national leadership.
“We informed them on a regional level that there is nothing we can do.
“We have to take command from our leaders when it comes to matters of governing of the metro,” he said.
Last week, the EFF marched to the city hall demanding that the remaining 173 security guards who were not insourced five years ago due to budgetary constraints be absorbed into the Bay municipality’s organigram.
The metro insourced 672 security guards in 2017, ostensibly to save the municipality money, but this plan backfired — costing millions of rand more.
Ngqisha said the EFF would never support the ANC and would only offer a helping hand to the DA if the party supported the insourcing.
DA provincial leader Nqaba Bhanga said the smaller parties that signed the coalition agreement were in talks with the EFF.
“Nelson Mandela Bay is collapsing and it is time for all opposition parties to act in the best interest of the municipality,” he said.
He said the DA had alternatives to ensure the ANC was removed.
“We have other options that we looking at to form a government.”
At Thursday’s council meeting, the DA wanted to have Heinrich Muller act as speaker on a more permanent basis until Northern Alliance president Gary Van Niekerk’s court issue, which had created uncertainty around his position, was finalised.
But the motion was later withdrawn by DA councillor Leander Kruger.
According to insiders, the motion was withdrawn because the EFF refused to vote in favour of it.
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