Durban - The EFF in eThekwini Municipality says that it will be voting to collapse the ANC in the eThekwini Municipality, where the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Chief Whip of the council are to be elected on Wednesday.
The council’s inaugural sitting on Monday had to be adjourned owing to several disruptions, including power outages and a group of ANC supporters storming the meeting, overturning the tables, marching around the tent singing before then marching out without any intervention from security officials.
At Monday’s meeting, the ANC’s Thabani Nyawose, who had been touted to be in the running for the mayoral position in the city, was elected as the new speaker of the council.
A new sitting of the council on Wednesday was being convened at Durban’s Chief Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre.
EFF KwaZulu-Natal Chairperson Vusi Khoza said they were determined to ensure that the ANC felt the pinch in eThekwini like in most parts of the province and the country following the local government elections earlier this month.
Video: Samkelo Mtshali/IOL Politics
At the polls, the ANC in eThekwini dropped to below 50% after it could only accumulate 42.1% of the votes and 93 seats in the council, followed by the DA with 25.9% of the votes and 59 seats, while the EFF had 10.4% of the votes and 24 seats.
“Our position is simple: we are voting against the ANC. We are here to vote against theft. We are here to vote against looting. We are here to vote against the ANC. Whatever happens, we are going to collapse the ANC. They won’t be able to breathe anywhere in the country,” Khoza said.
When quizzed whether the EFF in eThekwini would vote with the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the city to back a DA mayor, Khoza said: “We will vote for a mayor that is in a block that is anti-ANC.”
samkelo.mtshali@inl.co.za
Political Bureau