Speaking to TimesLIVE, Unisa political analyst Prof Dirk Kotze said the partnership could last since there were no positions in exchange for support and no party had to compromise.
“The agreement takes away the issues of negotiating who gets big positions and the mayoral committee and prevents infighting between two parties. It is an agreement to co-operate, it is not a marriage where they will have joint campaigns and election manifestos. It is merely a symbolic thing to say they will co-operate. It is a pragmatic arrangement,” Kotze said.
Kotze said the IFP had a better chance to shake the ANC's majority rule in the province than the DA.
“The IFP has been making good inroads into ANC areas. The party is in a good position, not to have the majority, but has reached a point to enable it to erode ANC support. In some of the by-elections it took some seats from the ANC. If you look at the 2019 elections and 2021, they have grown,” he said.
He said the co-operation of the parties was nothing new as they have worked together in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni.
‘No positions in exchange for support,’ DA says on partnership with IFP KZN
Image: SANDILE NDLOVU
Unlike a coalition agreement, the IFP and DA's new partnership in KwaZulu-Natal does not mean the two parties will govern together or be rewarded with political positions in municipal councils.
This week the DA and IFP signed a co-operation “service delivery pact” agreement to work together in the province. The parties said this was not a coalition agreement.
“It is slightly different; we have not formed a coalition. What we have done is a co-operation. If the IFP is in a hung municipality we will support the IFP,” said DA provincial leader Francois Rodgers in an interview on Newsroom Afrika.
Rodgers said when the DA votes for the IFP to be in power it would not expect DA councillors to be appointed as members of mayoral committees (MMCs), or as mayor or speaker as happens in coalition agreements.
“We did not want mayor or deputy mayors [positions]. We said we wanted to remain in the municipal oversight committees so we will continue our role as the official opposition.
“The service delivery pact we have put together gives us an opportunity to look for common solutions to service delivery problems and build some sort of relationship towards 2024,” Rodgers said.
Speaking to TimesLIVE, Unisa political analyst Prof Dirk Kotze said the partnership could last since there were no positions in exchange for support and no party had to compromise.
“The agreement takes away the issues of negotiating who gets big positions and the mayoral committee and prevents infighting between two parties. It is an agreement to co-operate, it is not a marriage where they will have joint campaigns and election manifestos. It is merely a symbolic thing to say they will co-operate. It is a pragmatic arrangement,” Kotze said.
Kotze said the IFP had a better chance to shake the ANC's majority rule in the province than the DA.
“The IFP has been making good inroads into ANC areas. The party is in a good position, not to have the majority, but has reached a point to enable it to erode ANC support. In some of the by-elections it took some seats from the ANC. If you look at the 2019 elections and 2021, they have grown,” he said.
He said the co-operation of the parties was nothing new as they have worked together in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni.
Image: IEC
Some people applauded the parties for the move on social media but others criticised the IFP.
Here are some of the reactions:
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