Democratic Alliance (DA) Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille says despite progress in negotiations, the DA and the African National Congress (ANC) have not yet reached an agreement on forming a government in Gauteng.
The DA was briefing the media about the impasse with the ANC in Gauteng.
She says the ANC cannot dictate terms around Gauteng’s governance as it has to be a power-sharing arrangement.
Zille says they are prepared to enter the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) in Gauteng on the basis of a power-sharing partnership that reflects the will of the voters in the province.
Zille says out of the 10 provincial cabinet posts in Gauteng, the ANC wants to give the DA three Executive Council posts and take seven. She says the ANC agreed to keep six cabinet seats plus the Premier and give one to the IFP or the PA and three to the DA. She says this will be a violation of the proportionality clause.
“We are not prepared to be co-opted by the ANC on their terms alone. Acting as if the ANC still has an overall majority in Gauteng which it does not. We cannot agree to be taken hostage in the Government of Provincial Unity, in which only one party dictates the terms. As far as committee chairs in the legislature are concerned, the proposal was that the DA would take six out of a total of 17 and we were prepared to accept this allocation despite a significant shortfall.”
