The African National Congress (ANC) in the Eastern Cape said it is ready to let bygones be bygones with its alliance partner, the South African Communist Party (SACP), and form coalitions in hung municipalities in the province.
The ANC is also not ruling out going into a coalition with the SACP in the Buffalo City Metro, where the communist party managed to get five seats in its first-ever local election.
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The Buffalo City Metro is one of several municipalities in the Eastern Cape where the ANC lost its majority.
The ANC has not just lost support on a national scale, receiving just 30.76% of the votes. The party has also lost its control in metros and small local councils in the Eastern Cape.
With the final results announced on Sunday night, the ANC has outright control in 53 municipalities and is the biggest party in 128 municipalities.
In the Eastern Cape, the ANC said it is willing to work with the SACP after falling out with its alliance partner over its decision to contest independently.
ANC provincial spokesperson Yanga Zicina said the SACP is still an ally of the ANC despite contesting against the party.
“The ANC is in alliance with the SACP and that alliance remains alive and obviously if you were to ask amongst all these people who are here, who do you prefer? Definitely, it has got to be our ally. I mean it would only make sense,” Zicina said.
The SACP said it is still mulling its options on coalitions, while the Democratic Alliance (DA) Federal Executive met on Saturday to discuss how it will approach coalition negotiations over the next few weeks.
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Babalo Ndenze
www.ewn.co.za