ANC to defy Zuma by meeting EFF over a coalition – report
Gauteng ANC leaders plan to meet EFF leader Julius Malema in a bid to retain leadership in Joburg and Tshwane, South Africa’s top metros.
This is according to the Sunday Times, which reported that such a move would go against the wishes of president Jacob Zuma.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe told the Sunday Times that he had instructed provincial secretaries to “do everything they can” to retain municipalities.
Read: This is how coalitions work in South Africa
Zuma’s backers told the Sunday Times that the president had expressed his disapproval of holding talks with the EFF.
However, Gauteng chairman Paul Mashatile confirmed that Malema had agreed to a meeting “this weekend” with the ANC.
“We are going to meet the leader of the EFF … there is no problem at all, he has agreed to meet,” Mashatile said.
ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa dismissed Zuma’s opposition to the talks as “malicious gossip”.
The “ANC can negotiate with any party and does not need permission from the president, he said. “It’s the ANC that takes the decision.”
Read the full article in the 7 August, 2016 edition of the Sunday Times
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