By Doreen Mokgolo
Negotiations between the ANC and DA in Gauteng have collapsed. The DA has pulled out of talks on the number of seats it wants in the provincial cabinet.
The move prompted Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi to declare that he would announce his cabinet on Wednesday evening despite the DA withdrawing from negotiations.
This move comes after weeks of back-and-forth between the two parties, with both refusing to compromise on their demands over the 10 executive seats available to form a government of provincial unity.
The province has been without executive leaders for three weeks, and attempts to announce the executive were postponed twice on orders from the ANC’s national office.
Addressing the media at the ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters on Wednesday, Lesufi said Helen Zille, the DA’s federal chairperson, demanded that the 10 executive seats be shared according to the parties’ proportion of the vote.
“We offered the DA three portfolios, but they demanded that the seats be shared proportionally,” said Lesufi.
“They changed the negotiation terms that we initially agreed on when we elected the premier. They gave us a list of their demands, and we engaged with eight other political parties from there,” he said.
On Wednesday afternoon, the DA said that after robust negotiations with the ANC, they had decided to decline to take up seats on the ANC’s terms.
“The offer made by the ANC was, and continues to be, unfair and unreasonable,” it said.
On Tuesday, Zille said the ANC was prepared to give them three seats and the IFP one seat.
“The ANC’s position illustrates that their refusal to discuss with us which other parties they wished to include was a smokescreen to hide the fact that they were planning to allocate a full seven to themselves while leaving us with three.
“As far as committee chairs in the Gauteng Legislature are concerned, the proposal was that the DA would take six out of a total of 17.
“The DA was prepared to accept this allocation, despite a significant shortfall, on the basis of the Executive reflecting the letter and spirit of the Declaration of Intent,” she said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Lesufi said negotiations with the DA were set to resume that evening and that the ANC was unaware of the DA’s decision to withdraw from the talks.
Of the 80 legislative seats, the ANC has 28, the DA 22, the PA two and the IFP one in their governing coalition. The EFF in opposition has 11. Seats for the other parties are MK (8), ActionSA (3), FF+ (2), ACDP (1), Bosa (1), and Rise Mzansi (1)
Pictured above: Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi.
Source: Doreen Mokgolo
