THE elections are just around the corner, coalition talks are in the air and some political parties are confident that the next government will be a coalition government.
This comes after speculation emerged that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party could receive less than 50% of the votes.
Some politicians have even expressed an interest in working with the ANC under various conditions.
However, for ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, this is out of the question.
Mbalula said coalitions will not work and people on the ground would suffer from the lack of service delivery. He said this when he was addressing ANC members in Ekurhuleni on Wednesday, 10 April.
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He also mentioned that most of the smaller parties want to be in coalition with them and are making big demands, while they only bring small numbers.
“The ANC in Ekurhuleni Metro won 78 wards out of 112 wards in Ekurhuleni. But we are forced to beg small parties like EFF, AIC and PAC, which do not have a single ward in Ekurhuleni, to govern the metro,” he said.
Mbalula said that he was once forced to travel to Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape to beg a party that had two seats for their votes.
He said they negotiated for hours with the party, but it would not concede.
“I could not sleep in Gqeberha while I was there negotiating a coalition government and begging a man with one seat to help us form a government.
“He kept threatening to go over to the other side if I did not give him the mayoral position. He was on the verge of asking me to give him my wife. Imagine, we have over 50 seats and we're begging a guy with two seats,” he said.
Mbalula said in the City of Joburg they had to beg Kenny Kunene to help them form government, adding that they were dragged from pillar to post.
He said the reason for this was that the ANC had failed to get people to vote and they would not allow that to happen in these elections either.
“Some are already talking about forming a coalition government at national level. We will not be part of a coalition government. ANC members must work hard for those votes. We cannot continue like this,” Mbalula said.
He told ANC members: "Comrades, we never won elections on a silver platter. We won them by going to the people and asking them to vote for us. Let us do that," he said.
