Democratic Alliance (DA) federal chairperson Helen Zille said the removal of Cilliers Brink as mayor of Tshwane might jeopardise the relationship between her party and the ANC nationally.
Zille was responding to the question on how Brink's removal can impact the relationship between the ANC and DA at a national level.
"All these things add up to poison the atmosphere," she said.
She told IOL that there won't be stabilisation agreements in the other metros if Brink was not reinstated as mayor.
Brink was ousted last week in a motion of no confidence sponsored by the ANC, supported by the fed-up ActionSA and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
About 120 council members voted in favour of the resolution, while 87 voted against it. One member of the council abstained from voting.
The DA confirmed they would field Brink again in the next council sitting to elect a new mayor.
When asked why the focus was on Tshwane, despite the DA losing control of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni metros with less intensity, Zille explained that the context in Tshwane is entirely different.
"Today there is a GNU, which has ushered in a new era of co-operation. The ANC and the DA want to end the chronic instability in Metros. We had begun to have tentative discussions about how we could achieve stability in order to improve service delivery.
"The ANC motion of no confidence in Tshwane flew in the face of these attempts. Also, we fought very hard indeed to keep Mpho (Phalatse) as our mayor in Johannesburg. We went to court twice to protect her.
"When we realised that the only way to keep Johannesburg was to succumb to the blackmail of the PA, we decided against it," she stated.
In 2023, when Phalatse was removed as mayor, the DA felt blackmailed by the PA’s demands.
According to the DA, the PA’s extortion collapsed the Joburg coalition talks.
“The PA last night refused to support the current multiparty coalition government unless it got access to the city’s finances through control over the two most lucrative portfolios on the mayoral committee: economic and infrastructure development,” the DA stated at the time.
When asked about whether the conflicts indicated underlying cracks in the Government of National Unity (GNU) or could lead to further division, Zille remarked: "Time will tell. Coalitions are always complex and difficult to manage“.
Tshwane has less than 14 days to elect the next mayor.
IOL Politics