Save Pretoria: 15 000 make their voices heard about coalition dispute

Support for AfriForum’s petition to keep the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality out of the hands of an EFF-ANC coalition has doubled since last week and now stands at more than 15 000 signatures. This follows after Fikile Mbalula, Secretary General of the ANC, made it clear on Monday that the party aims to form a new coalition in the Tshwane Metro which “serves the interests of the ANC as well as the people”.

“Mbalula’s comments confirm that any coalition partner who causes the current coalition to crumble in the Metro is unquestionably choosing the side of the ANC and its interests,” says Ernst van Zyl, Head of Public Relations at AfriForum. “It’s telling that Mbalula mentions the residents’ interests only in passing, because for him and his cadres, only his party’s interests are a priority,” adds Van Zyl.

AfriForum has been putting pressure on the current multi-party coalition for the past two weeks to resolve the disputes in the coalition as soon as possible, especially after ActionSA announced that it was seriously considering siding with the ANC and the EFF. Should ActionSA continue with this plan, the EFF-ANC coalition will succeed in ousting Cilliers Brink, Mayor of Tshwane, thus destroying the multi-party coalition in the Metro.

When a member of the public signs AfriForum’s petition, AfriForum sends an automatic letter to the leaders of ActionSA, DA, IVP, ACDP and FF+ urging them to settle the disputes in the coalition as soon as possible and in the interest of the Metro’s residents.

“We cannot allow serving the ANC’s interests to become the Tshwane Metro’s top priority again. There is less than a week left to save the current multi-party coalition and Pretoria’s future. So AfriForum will keep up the pressure and, together with the public’s support, ensure that the voices of the residents of Pretoria are heard,” concludes Van Zyl.

Visit www.redpretoria.co.za and add your name to the petition to prevent the Tshwane Metro from serving the interests of the EFF and ANC, rather than the residents’.