News / National
Trouble in SA's political space, the moon seems to be going down
27 May 2024 at 14:20hrs | Views
There's trouble in space - the moon seems to be going down at the Multiparty Charter (MPC), as the Democratic Alliance (DA) seeks to breach the Moonshot Pact charter agreement of not going in a coalition government with the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
The MPC has been on shaky grounds since the beginning of the year, with a string of scandals involving other leaders mulling talks with other parties.
Speaking to the Sunday World, DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille said they were not ruling out the possibility of going into coalition with the ANC.
She said this was because it would not win the elections outright.
The pact was formed as a united front against the ANC going into coalition with other parties, in the event that it did not get a two-thirds majority.
According to Zille, the DA relied on the MPC to stop the ANC from going into coalition with either the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) or Umkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP).
The pact is made up of DA, ActionSA, IFP, Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), United Independent Movement (UIM), Spectrum National Party (SNP), Independent South African National Civic Organisation (ISANCO), and ACDP.
However, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said this was how trust issues were created.
Mashaba questioned the DA's commitment to upholding their oath of not being involved with the ruling party.
"This is exactly what creates a trust deficit between politicians and the electorate. A political party signs an MPC agreement, in front of the entire nation, committing not to entertain any coalition with the ANC. What is this now," he said on X.
ActionSA has been vocal and warning MPC leaders to refrain from making deals with the ANC and other parties.
In some instances, the party was willing to exit the MPC.
This is after they rejected the Referendum Party's (associated with the Cape Independence Movement) application to join the charter.
"ActionSA would sooner leave the MPC rather than being associated with the Cape Independence movement," it said in a statement.
The MPC has been on shaky grounds since the beginning of the year, with a string of scandals involving other leaders mulling talks with other parties.
Speaking to the Sunday World, DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille said they were not ruling out the possibility of going into coalition with the ANC.
She said this was because it would not win the elections outright.
The pact was formed as a united front against the ANC going into coalition with other parties, in the event that it did not get a two-thirds majority.
According to Zille, the DA relied on the MPC to stop the ANC from going into coalition with either the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) or Umkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP).
The pact is made up of DA, ActionSA, IFP, Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), United Independent Movement (UIM), Spectrum National Party (SNP), Independent South African National Civic Organisation (ISANCO), and ACDP.
However, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said this was how trust issues were created.
Mashaba questioned the DA's commitment to upholding their oath of not being involved with the ruling party.
"This is exactly what creates a trust deficit between politicians and the electorate. A political party signs an MPC agreement, in front of the entire nation, committing not to entertain any coalition with the ANC. What is this now," he said on X.
ActionSA has been vocal and warning MPC leaders to refrain from making deals with the ANC and other parties.
In some instances, the party was willing to exit the MPC.
This is after they rejected the Referendum Party's (associated with the Cape Independence Movement) application to join the charter.
"ActionSA would sooner leave the MPC rather than being associated with the Cape Independence movement," it said in a statement.
Source - IOL Politics
