Seven political parties in Nelson Mandela Bay have signed an agreement to form a new government in the metro. The parties made the announcement at a press briefing in Gqberha on Thursday.
The agreement signed on Thursday was in the making for the past four months. It will see a collaboration between parties such as the Democratic Alliance (DA), African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), the United Democratic Movement (UDM), and the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) amongst others.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said the door was still open for the Northern Alliance, a small party that has three seats in council to join them. The DA’s leader in the Eastern Cape, Nqaba Bhanga, called the agreement historic, adding that there had been engagements for eight months. “Something must be done to save Nelson Mandela Bay. This is a very exciting day,” he said.
The main reason cited for the move was the handling of the water crisis and the questions around the legality of the current city manager.
“These two burning issues, among many others, are key priorities of this multi-party coalition which seeks to restore stability, root out corruption and improve service delivery. We stand ready to take the lead and rebuild what has been broken down. Navigating these negotiations was certainly not easy for any party and took a lot of time and effort.
“Extensive time was spent discussing a shared set of values, principles, commitments, objectives and priorities that will inform the governance blueprint of the new coalition,” the group said in a statement.
Source: Eyewitness News, IOL, Daily Maverick, News24, image from Twitter