The Patriotic Alliance (PA) is now an official member of coalitions which govern the Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni metros.
Earlier this week it formally joined the governing coalitions in those cities which includes the DA, FF+, ActionSA, COPE, the IFP, and the ACDP.
This coalition now has 138 seats in the 270-seat Johannesburg city council and 98 of the 224 seats in Ekurhuleni.
A statement released by the coalition partners after the announcement said: ‘The multiparty coalition formation in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni today signed new coalition agreements to bring the Patriotic Alliance into the formation. These agreements will not only pave a new path forward towards expanding the Gauteng metro coalitions but will consolidate the majority coalition in the City of Johannesburg.’
John Steenhuisen, the leader of the DA welcomed the PA’s addition to the alliance, saying: ‘The message this sends out today is that these people here are the way for the future. Whatever you say, the ANC will fall below 50% after the next elections.’
Gayton McKenzie, the PA’s controversial and colourful leader was quoted as saying: ‘We in the PA have been clear that we do not care who we work with, we would even work with the AWB if we had to, because we should not bring personalities into politics.’