Analysts explain the Democratic Alliance fury over loss of Tshwane, the capital city of South Africa. Picture: Etienne Creux
WEIGHING in on the ongoing war of words between the DA and the ANC after the removal of the former DA mayor Cilliers Brink, independent political analysts have stated that the DA lost an “important and strategic” seat of government and that this explained why the party was not happy.
Between September and October alone, the DA lost two municipalities, with both the mayors removed through a motion of no confidence in the Tshwane Metro while the other was forced out when the Thabazimbi municipality was placed under administration for bankrupting the municipality on legal fees.
According to Zululand University-based Independent Political Analyst Professor Sipho Seepe, the fury over the loss of the capital city and administrative ground for the country emanated from the fact that “by controlling Tshwane, political parties demonstrated to the world the capabilities of the party”.
“Tshwane is a seat of government. Controlling the seat of government gives it far greater access to embassies of other countries. It can host international events and government ceremonies that would improve its profile internationally.
“If the president had a function, the protocol would require that the DA mayor be invited; this way, the DA would simply enjoy flexing its muscle,” Seepe said.
Seepe’s colleague in academia, Dr Metji Makgoba, who is an independent political analyst and senior lecturer at the University of Limpopo, said that the DA had benefited immensely from the mistakes of the former ruling party.
“The DA is benefiting from the ANC's corruption and maladministration of the past 25 years. The fact that the ANC has entrenched the culture of corruption in public institutions has redefined political accountability. While the DA remains incompetent and pushes anti-poor policies, the media would not see it as a problem because the ANC's looting had become salient.
“The DA's corruption would not attract media attention given how the ANC has normalised corruption. The DA is not measured on good governance in this context. They are measured by how their incompetence does not surpass that of the ANC, Makgoba said.
He further said that the DA was a party of the “bare minimum”, which has figured out how to position itself against the ANC's failure.
“They pride themselves on not stealing but rather delivering services that change the lives of the poor. Their priorities are misguided. But that would not be seen as a problem because the ANC has done worse things,” Makgoba said.
He felt that Tshwane was very strategic for the DA and that any other political party would have wanted to cement its presence and influence in the capital.
He said by losing it, the DA understood that they had lost access to resources and influence that would further entrench the party's influence.
Among other notable critics of the ANC is the SA Communist Party (SACP), which has on several occasions accused its alliance partner of favouring the DA's desires over other parties in the country.
However, Makgoba said the SACP was merely causing confusion and that the organisation should be ignored.
“They have lost meaning and have kept the ANC in power for many years even though they can see that the party has allowed unethical leadership to thrive. If they are worried about the ANC's actions and how they are damaging to their political agenda, they must act and discipline the ANC. But they would not do it because the ANC does not have an agenda in South African politics.
“Theirs is to use their public platforms to perform political visibility while, in essence, they have directly benefited from the ANC's hegemony. If they are indeed a socialist party, they should force the ANC to move to the left. They have never done that; all they do is act as if they are contesting the ANC. This is merely to confuse,” he said.
Following the removal of Brink, his party accused the ActionSA and the EFF coalition, arguing that it would jeopardise the city’s ability to deliver services.
He described the EFF as a party of hate, violence, and chaos, with its national leadership being implicated in the theft of VBS Mutual Bank’s money.
However, EFF leader Julius Malema said while welcoming the newly elected city mayor, Dr Nasipi Moya, last week that for almost 10 years, the DA was in charge of the city and that its main agenda was to prioritise only white-populated areas and neglect black-populated areas.
He said the residents of Hammanskraal, Soshanguve, Atteridgeville, Mamelodi, and Ga-Rankuwa had been neglected and forced to live next to dump sites and without clean and reliable water.
thabo.makwakwa@inl.co.za