ActionSA believes the Democratic Alliance-led multi-party coalition’s refusal to work with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) will have detrimental effects on the stability of governance in Ekurhuleni. 

It is one of several political parties - along with the DA, African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Freedom Front Plus and Congress of the People - that have formed coalition governments in all three of Gauteng’s main metros. 

The coalition numbers are stable in Johannesburg and Tshwane, but in Ekurhuleni, the margins for governance are shaky. 

The DA has 65 seats, ActionSA 15, Freedom Front Plus 8, ACDP 2, Inkatha Freedom Party 3, while Cope has a single seat. 

The coalition needs at least 113 seats in Ekurhuleni’s council to meet the 50-plus voting requirements. 

ActionSA leaders said on Monday that, because the council numbers were lower for the coalition in Ekurhuleni, the alliance could not successfully pass its upcoming budget in May. 

Another fear was that the mayor, Tania Campbell, along with her executive, could be vulnerable to a motion of no confidence at any time. 

ActionSA said the solution to this number problem was to work with the EFF. 

Party chairperson Michael Beaumont said governance in Ekurhuleni was nearly impossible without the support of the EFF. 

He said ActionSA had made this clear to its coalition partners, but there remained resistance to the idea of bowing to the EFF’s wishes. 

The DA led the charge making its stance known that it was unwilling to negotiate with the EFF following the municipal elections.

The party's leaders, including John Steenhuisen, had cited previous governance spats in governing Johannesburg as a reason why the EFF could not be trusted. 

Herman Mashaba said the DA had requested that he speak to the EFF to determine if they would be willing to have a voting block partnership. 

Mashaba said the EFF proposed bringing its 81 seats from all metros to provide the votes needed. 

According to Mashaba, the EFF’s only request was that the party’s councillors be elected as chairpersons of oversight committees in the metros.

"The proposal did not involve becoming formal coalition partners, given the widely divergent policy agendas between the concerned parties. Parties in the multi-party coalition declined the proposal without a counter-offer, or even a response," he said.

A meeting with coalition partners last week closed the door on engagements with the EFF, Mashaba said. The meeting concluded that the issue of voting would be left to local councillors to negotiate. 

Beaumont said the lack of voting support in Ekurhuleni meant the ANC could make an effort to bring a motion of no confidence forward. 

"The mathematical fact is that the support of the EFF is the only viable option for the Ekurhuleni coalition government to survive what is likely to be an ANC sponsored motion of no confidence within the next month or two," he said.