African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Paul Mashatile said the national leadership gave the ANC in Gauteng the thumbs up to sideline the Democratic Alliance (DA) with its "unreasonable" demands.
This is as the provincial chairperson Panyaza Lesufi and DA federal chairperson Helen Zille have been at loggerheads following the ANC forming the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) that excluded the DA.
The tensions were also seen in Gauteng metros where the ANC has now formed a coalition with ActionSA to suppress the blue party.
The ANC is leading a coalition government in two metros, namely Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg.
In Tshwane, the ANC has played a role in the ousting of the DA councillor Cilliers Brink as mayor which has been backed by the fed-up ActionSA.
ActionSA's Dr Nasipihi Moya is the newly elected mayor of Tshwane.
Mashatile said the provincial structure complained to them about the DA making it difficult to operate and the solution was that they leave it behind.
"With Helen Zille and Panyaza, well, I’m sure that they will resolve those issues. As far as we are concerned, we said to the government of Gauteng led by the ANC that if the DA doesn’t want to work with you in Gauteng, leave them behind.
“It’s not your problem and they must not make it our problem nationally because we are working well with them nationally," Mashatile said.
He maintained that the ball was in the DA's court.
"It is up to the DA to make sure that they work well with our structures in the provinces. We want our structures to work with them as well," he said.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
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