2 days ago
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The EFF in Gauteng says it will vote with the newly-formed government of provincial Uunity (GPU) if policies brought forward aligns with the party’s ideological position.
The MK party, on the other hand, said it has not yet decided whether it will support the ANC-led government in the province.
With the government without the DA, the GPU will have to rely on the support of other parties in the legislature to pass important policies such as the budget vote.
Out of the 80 seats in the legislature, the parties that constitute the GPU have 33. This means to pass a budget, which requires 50+1, the GPU will require the support of other parties like the EFF and MK Party.
The EFF and the MK have a total combined total of 19 seats.
EFF Gauteng spokesperson Dumisani Baleni said despite being in the opposition they are prepared to work with the ANC in legislature.
“We have been working with the ANC in local government and we will continue to work with them. We will support any budget or law that will benefit the residents of Gauteng.
“However, this is not something that is on paper that we will support ANC all the time; we will assess and check if it aligns with our ideologies then we will take a decision,” he said.
“We wouldn’t support any motion that seeks to abuse ANC, whether they [ANC] want us in government or not we will not allow the DA to abuse ANC,” he said.
On Wednesday, premier Panyaza Lesufi announced his cabinet which excluded the DA but included the IFP, PA and Rise Mzansi.
The IFP got 3.8% in Gauteng in the May elections, the PA got 2% while Rise Mzansi got 0.42%
Meanwhile, the MK Party said they have not yet decided if they will support the ANC or not.
The party’s spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndlhela said they were still expected to take a decision internally whether to support them in passing motions and budgets.
“We will meet internally and make decision and afterwards we will announce our positions. For now we remain in the opposition and we will ensure that we hold government to account,” he said.
Political analyst Prof Sethulego Matebesi has warned that dysfunctionality is likely to reign in the Gauteng legislature with the ANC having failed to form a majority government.
Without the backing from the opposition parties, the ANC and its partners cannot pass a budget or adopt motions and Matebesi, a professor from the University of Free State said this could be “a messy situation”.
“I foresee things being dysfunctional in that province which is the engine of this country. We have seen in the past how the EFF came to punish them. I foresee a situation where each time when it had to be voted, the ANC even outside their partnership with Rise Mzansi and parties like the IFP would have to go before hand and negotiate with other parties. We have seen at municipal level that is not working at all,” said Matebesi.
He added: “One thing you should also realise is that sometimes you might have these partners in government but there would be moments where they would be disagreements as we have seen on numerous occassions.
“You need at least an outright majority and that majority would be anything from 50 + 1 to be able to pass a vote,” said Matebesi.
He said it was imperative for the GPU partners especially the ANC extend an olive branch and start communicating with other partners to negotiate and persuade them in order to be able to pass vote.
“But this would be very difficult because these parties are too fragmented, even before a decision was done in announcing the cabinet, they did not see eye to eye, I don’t see them finding each other now,” said Matebesi. “If everything grinds to a halt at the biggest economy in SA, ANC and DA, who have the largest number of seas, would be to blame.”
