The leader of a minority party in the coalition governing Nelson Mandela Bay has vowed to withdraw its councillors from the coalition running the metro, threatening the power-sharing arrangement.
But Defenders of the People (DOP) leader Ruphus Mphahlele’s complaint is not with the other coalition members — he has accused his own party’s regional leadership of behaving like a law unto itself.
Mphahlele told The Herald that the party would withdraw from the Bay coalition arrangement in line with a decision by its top six at the weekend, until the regional leaders “come to their senses”.
The DOP’s regional structure, however, disputed this, saying Mphahlele had no right to interfere in the Bay coalition.
They said internal discussions were being held to resolve the impasse and that the party continued to be a member of the governing coalition.
The DOP has two councillors in the Bay — Tukela Zumani and Florence Hermans
Should Mphahlele carry out his threat to withdraw the pair, it would leave the ruling coalition vulnerable because it does not have a 61-seat majority in the 120-seat council.
The coalition — made up of the ANC, AIC, GOOD, NA, PAC, UDM, DOP and AIM — has a combined 58 seats out of a council of 120.
It governs with the support of the PA, which has two seats.
A grouping of opposition parties led by the DA has 60 seats.
The DOP signed a partnership agreement with the other parties in the Bay in late 2021.
But according to Mphahlele, the Bay members did so without consulting the national leadership.
Mphahlele said that since the coalition was formed the members had failed to produce a copy of the partnership agreement despite repeated requests, and that they had been making their own decisions without consulting the top structure.
“The DOP members in Nelson Mandela Bay are undermining the constitution of the organisation.
“With each and every thing they are doing they need to consult with the president of the national party, but they just do things without consulting the proper structure.”
Mphahlele said he had called its members in the region several times, asking them to explain why they had joined the Bay coalition without his knowledge, but he had yet to receive answers.
“I took the decision that I am going to distance the DOP from that useless coalition; we are no longer going to be part of that coalition until they come to their senses and explain to me [if] there is something they are getting from that coalition,” he said.
Mphahlele said members of the DOP top six met on Sunday and would inform the Bay municipality of its decision to cut ties with the coalition.
DOP regional co-ordinator Simphiwe Madlavu wrote a letter to Mphahlele last week questioning the workings of the party’s executive.
Madlavu said the region was concerned with how the national structure continued to operate without recognising and appreciating the role the Bay metro played in the development of the party.
He said it was unacceptable that Mphahlele continued to use social media to unilaterally make and communicate decisions .
“The president cannot operate alone and needs to be in constant consultation with party structures before any view is communicated, and social media is definitely not a platform to engage on party internal issues,” he said.
Zumani, who is also the party’s national spokesperson, said it was confident about continuing to serve the people of the metro.
“In the Bay, we had requested president Mphahlele to come down to Nelson Mandela Bay.
“He has no right or powers to interfere with the coalition,” he said.
“The people of the metro have nothing to worry about — the organisation and coalition still remains.
“Everything is under control and we are dealing with the issue internally.
“There has been a lot of organisational discussions going on.”
Hermans also said she and Zumani would not be pulling out of the Bay coalition.
The Bay ANC’s regional secretary and member of the political management council, Luyolo Nqakula, said it had not received any correspondence from the DOP national leaders about their intention of withdrawing from the coalition.
“The matter is an internal DOP matter.
“We have been advised that they are seized with it,” Nqakula said.
HeraldLIVE