The Democratic Alliance (DA) and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday signed a Service Delivery Pact, to bring much needed stability to a number of municipalities where both parties are involved.

The agreement has been six months in the making and follows on from the parties’ successful cooperation in by-elections to win wards from the African National Congress (ANC).

The agreement will ensure that where each party holds seats in a hung municipality, the DA and IFP will work together to improve service delivery and better the lives of residents.

The parties said in a joint statement that they shared a strong commitment to Constitutionalism, the rule of law and service delivery improvement.

“We are also parties of government that govern in various local municipalities across the country and are only two of three parties that have governed a province,” they pointed out.

Both parties have pledged to ensure that communities have access to basic service delivery and will also relieve residents and businesses from crippling loadshedding by accessing affordable and sustainable electricity.

The DA and IFP said they would bring in investment and jobs to the local economy and make it easier for businesses to trade. The parties have promised to support devolution of power within the constitutional and legislative framework and eliminate corruption and patronage networks.

Both parties will also promote multilingualism and enhance the province’s heritage landscape.

The DA and IFP have included 15 priorities that the joint caucuses will set to work on to radically change the landscape of local government in KZN, if successfully implemented.

The parties accused the ANC of wrecking local government across the province.

“That is why we believe we are able to come together and put the interests of citizens first. In the interests of transparency and to gain the trust of voters in these municipalities we will also be publishing these agreements so that they can hold us accountable. This is a first for KZN and a fresh approach from the shady ANC/Economic Freedom Fighters coalition agreement that is built purely on corruption and access to state resources,” said the parties.

Both parties explained that it is their collective view that they can achieve more together than separately, as well as being able to learn from one another.

“We are guided by the approach of IFP Founder and President Emeritus Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi who has sought to bring parties together from across the political, religious and racial divide for over 40 years and the current work that DA Leader John Steenhuisen has been doing to bring various opposition parties together to unseat the ANC in next year’s election,” parties added.