Cosatu slams Ramaphosa's DA praise

ANC alliance partner Cosatu has slammed president Cyril Ramaphosa for praising Democratic Alliance (DA)-governed municipalities in the Western Cape.

Ramaphosa recently highlighted that some of the country’s best-run municipalities were under DA control, a move that seems to be backfiring within the ANC’s tripartite alliance.

He said: “I can name it here because there's nothing wrong with competition. They are often DA-controlled municipalities. We need to ask ourselves, what is it that they are doing that is better than what we are doing? 

“And there's nothing wrong with us saying we want to go and see what Cape Town is doing. We want to go and see what Stellenbosch is doing."

But Cosatu leaders say this undermines the ANC and its allies, particularly at a time when service delivery challenges and coalition tensions dominate the political landscape.

Cosatu’s first deputy president Mike Shingange said the comparison between the DA and ANCE was unfortunate, saying that service delivery innie Kaap is unequal.

“The choice of Cape Town and Stellenbosch is quite unfortunate," he told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika.

"In Cape Town, when you land and drive to the city, there’s the N2 there, and you see on your left-hand side what is happening. So what are we talking about when we talk about Cape Town being run by DA better? It’s only when you get to the city.

“It means that the DA, unlike the ANC, is servicing the minority population of this country. It means for the DA, its task is maintaining the status quo of the clean Cape Town that has long been developed.

"The DA’s mandate is not to improve and develop Khayelitsha and all the municipalities surrounding the City of Cape Town. It’s unfair to compare Tzaneen municipality or Soweto with the DA (run municipalities). The ANC is largely running municipalities that are impoverished, that cannot pay and raise revenues.”

Shingange insisted that it is unfair and unfortunate to urge ANC councillors to tour and learn from “people who served a minority”.

He added: “As Cosatu we denounce that. We think it has been unfortunate and I think we could have a better example on how we can improve on how we manage our municipalities."