- MAP16 said they will work with the EFF in Maluti-a-Phofung and not the DA.
- This was after the DA said they will not form a coalition agreement with the EFF.
- MAP16 said talks to form a coalition between nine parties were at an advanced stage.
MAP16, the party formed by ex-ANC councillors who took on the ANC successfully in Maluti-a-Phofung, has opted to side with the EFF rather than the DA in coalition talks.
The group, which got the second largest number of seats in that municipality, including areas like Harrismith and QwaQwa, said coalition talks were about to be concluded.
MAP16 received 20 seats, but needed 36 seats to take over the ailing municipality successfully.
With the EFF's seven seats, they will have to rely on the three seats of the Dikwankwetla Party of South Africa (DPSA), two from African Content Movement (ACM), and one seat each from ATM, SARKO, AULA, AIC, and FF Plus.
"We decided to work with the EFF and not the DA because we have a close relationship with the EFF locally. And because the EFF and the DA won't work together, we will rely on the smaller parties," said MAP16's Paratlane Motloung.
He said they had had four meetings with the smaller parties who have all agreed in principle to form a coalition with MAP16.
"We only have to talk to FF Plus because the guy said he needed to talk to the provincial leadership first," he said.
Motloung said they were also yet to finalise talks around positions, and then an agreement can be penned.
The ANC dropped from 47 to 28 seats, a drop of 40% in support, in Maluti-a-Phofung, which is dubbed one of the worst-performing municipalities in the country.
MAP16 was formed after the ANC kicked out 16 ANC councillors who blew the lid on corruption and exposed former mayor Vusi Tshabalala.
They were expelled from the ANC, and Tshabalala was promoted under Ace Magashule's watch.
The municipality was the centre of unrest in July amid extended power and water cuts. Service delivery is almost non-existent in the dysfunctional municipality.
The ANC sent president Cyril Ramaphosa and his deputy David Mabuza multiple times to campaign in the area where they apologised for the lack of basic services and pledged to do better.
Motloung said there was no way the ANC could form a coalition in this municipality even though it has eight seats more than MAP16.
"Even if they side with the DA it is not enough. The smaller parties said they would only work with us, he said.
Maluti-a-Phofung is among the 66 councils in the country where there is no outright majority following last week's municipal elections.