Following the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU), the Western Cape is witnessing the rise of its local counterpart — the Government of Local Unity (GLU).
This new governance model is being championed as a solution for hung municipalities in the province.
The unusual allies behind the GLU are the ANC and Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), while the Democratic Alliance (DA), which governs most of the province, opposes the new arrangement and is fighting to keep eight councils from forming GLUs.
Read more: GNU talks were on a knife-edge — Alan Winde on how Floyd Shivambu ‘saved South Africa’
The Statement of Intent for GLUs, which the ANC, FF Plus and other smaller parties have signed, echoes the principles of the GNU, emphasising abiding by the Constitution, unity, inclusivity and social cohesion.
The DA has vowed to not join any GLU and believed the ANC and FF Plus were using GLUs to seize power in municipalities ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
“The original document between the DA and its coalition partners clearly stated the commitments, objectives and terms of office priorities,” said DA Western Cape chairperson Jaco Londt. “There are also clear ways in how to do conflict resolutions.”
In the Western Cape’s 30 municipalities, the DA holds outright control in 13, is in opposition in eight and governs through coalitions in nine.
First success: Oudtshoorn
Oudtshoorn was the first municipality to be run by a GLU after DA Mayor Chris Macpherson was ousted this month and the FF Plus’ Johannes Allers and the ANC’s Jongilizwe Tyatya were appointed as mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, with the Patriotic Alliance’s (PA’s) Suzanne Jansen elected as Speaker.
The governing coalition in Oudtshoorn now consists of the FF Plus, ANC, PA, Oudtshoorn Community Initiative and Advieskantoor. The DA, Good party, Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa and Suid-Kaap Saamstaan form the opposition.
Read more: Another DA-Freedom Front Plus coalition collapses in the Western Cape
It was not the first time the ANC and FF Plus had collaborated. In May, they removed DA Mayor Paul Swart from the Cape Agulhas Municipality, despite the FF Plus being in a coalition with the DA. Another DA councillor was voted in as mayor.
In George, the DA removed the FF Plus’s deputy mayor, Gert van Niekerk, from office.
Both parties accused each other of breaking their coalition agreement, leading to the collapse of their relationship.
“We have voice recordings of the FF Plus deputy leader in the Western Cape lobbying smaller parties to get rid of the DA mayor in George,” said the DA’s Londt.
“FF Plus are being economical with the truth … in saying that they are a trustworthy coalition partner. This is the start of the FF Plus 2026 campaign. They barely got enough votes to get a seat in the provincial legislature. They lost over 11% of votes in the province by aligning themselves with CapeXit.”
The party kept its single seat in the provincial legislature and its votes declined from 32,115 (1.6%) in 2019 to 28,471 (1.4%) in this year’s elections.
Londt said the DA remained committed to its original coalition agreements and had no intention of aligning with the ANC as the FF Plus had done.
FF Plus leader in the province Dr Corné Mulder said a disciplinary hearing had found Mayor Swart guilty of failing to disclose interests and of unauthorised expenditure.
“We were not going to sweep that under the carpet,” he said. “The DA used to govern all by themselves. We entered into coalition agreements with them and we are a committed coalition partner, but to our surprise suddenly the DA ended the coalition in George, then in the Garden Route District Council.”
Mulder said the DA had been approached by other coalition partners to discuss the removal of the Cape Agulhas mayor, but it declined and instead removed the FF Plus deputy mayor in Langeberg Municipality.
He said GLUs were an opportunity to create a new model for local government which would bring about inclusive growth and progress.
“The FF Plus is once again calling on the DA to restore the coalitions that it terminated in George and the Garden Route District Municipality for the sake of good governance and service delivery.
“Concerning Oudtshoorn, the FF Plus hopes that the DA will reconsider and not merely fulfil an opposition role, but contribute meaningfully to a Government of Local Unity to serve their voters’ interests.”
Ructions in Langeberg
The DA and FF Plus formed a coalition government in the Langeberg Municipality after the 2021 local government elections. The FF Plus deputy mayor, Johnny Steenkamp, was removed via a motion of no confidence on Monday, 12 August. People’s Democratic Movement councillor Christopher Grootboom was elected as the new deputy mayor.
The DA’s Tertuis Simmers. (Photo: Aisha Abdool Karim)
Last week, the DA’s Tertuis Simmers claimed the FF Plus had not supported the municipality’s budget, which led to the dissolution of the coalition in the municipality.
The budget issue is not new — in November, the Langeberg Business Forum wrote a 15-page letter to the municipality on the budget.
In the letter, the forum pointed out that roads in the municipality were still in poor condition despite R52-million being spent on upgrades, there was a lack of housing for retired farmworkers and there were safety and law enforcement shortcomings.
The forum claimed the municipality refused to financially support agricultural safety initiatives and called for an infrastructure audit.
It asked the municipality to lower staff costs, raise staff effectiveness and enforce discipline.
According to a source, the municipality did not respond to the letter.
The budget was passed on 30 May, just one day after the national elections.
There are 23 councillors in the municipality — 10 from the DA, six from the ANC and three from the FF Plus, with the Good party, the PA, the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) and the Langeberg Independent Party (LIP) each having one. The DA governs with the PDM and LIP.
‘Newfound spirit’
ANC Western Cape spokesperson Muhammad Khalid Sayed said there should be GLUs where there were no outright winners at the local government level.
“The ANC believes that the people of the Western Cape in these municipalities must come first,” Sayed said. “We furthermore believe that the recent GNU has also created a newfound spirit of unity, cohesion and inclusivity in diversity that should be replicated in other spheres of government.
“We believe that unity in diversity and consensus-seeking is the new GLU that will hold us together.”
Sayed said the ANC was prepared to work with all parties, including the DA, to strengthen governance through inclusive GLUs. DM
Additional reporting by Suné Payne.
Daily Maverick
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