eThekwini parties put public services at centre of coalitions
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Sunday Express
Parties negotiating to govern eThekwini are putting municipal integrity and essential services at the centre of their priorities after local elections. Water, electricity, sanitation networks and infrastructure are among the issues raised, IOL’s Mercury reports.
In eThekwini, a metropolitan municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, negotiations to form a municipal majority are putting public service management and administrative integrity at the centre of the parties’ positions. The MK Party won 38% of the vote, ahead of the DA on 25%, the ANC on 16% and the IFP on 6%, according to figures cited by IOL’s Mercury in its report for Sunday Express.
ActionSA, the EFF and the IFP are calling for written coalition agreements providing, among other things, oversight mechanisms and predictable governance. The DA prefers a majority government and believes budget negotiations could delay municipal operations, while the MK Party is highlighting ethical leadership and the ANC says cross-party management is already working in the council, IOL’s Mercury reports.
The parties cite water supply, electricity, sanitation networks, beaches, illegally occupied buildings, crime and local economic development among the issues to be addressed. The DA’s KwaZulu-Natal leader, Sithembiso Ngema, wants an audit of municipal problems if his party enters government, according to IOL’s Mercury.
The eThekwini negotiations follow those launched by the MK Party with the ANC on 8 November to form a coalition and exclude the DA, according to the MK’s negotiations with the ANC in eThekwini. KwaZulu-Natal police are meanwhile remaining mobilised during the coalition negotiations, according to a 9 November publication on the security arrangements in the province during the coalition negotiations.
