DA negotiates with FF+, ActionSA and UDM
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Daily Maverick
Democratic Alliance is negotiating with FF+, ActionSA and UDM to form a majority in Nelson Mandela Bay after winning 53 of 120 seats. It needs at least 61 councillors to govern, while the ANC holds 32 seats, according to Daily Maverick.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), the largest party on the Nelson Mandela Bay council, has approached the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), ActionSA and the United Democratic Movement (UDM) to form a municipal coalition. The DA won 44.17% of the vote and 53 of the council's 120 seats, but needs the support of at least eight additional councillors to reach the 61-seat majority, reports Daily Maverick.
FF+ mayoral candidate Bill Harington confirmed on Sunday that his party had been approached by the DA for negotiations. A meeting planned between the DA and UDM on Saturday 7 November was, however, postponed after UDM councillor Luxolo Namette was shot dead in Motherwell, Gqeberha. The DA is also seeking to involve ActionSA, the FF+ and possibly the ACDP in managing the municipal public accounts committee, which Namette chaired.
The ANC, the second-largest force on the council with 25.48% of the vote and 32 seats, could seek to form a coalition excluding the DA and FF+. An alliance between the ANC and DA also remains possible, but the ANC had already rejected a similar proposal from the DA in 2023, according to Daily Maverick.
The negotiations follow the South African DA's launch of municipal coalition negotiations, announced on 8 November. They also follow the death of South African municipal councillor Luxolo Namette, announced on 7 November.
