By: Staff Reporter
The Patriotic Alliance (PA) has hit back at the DA leader John Steenhusen who branded Gayton McKenzie-led party extortionists.
This comes as DA-led coalitions in the City of Joburg and Ekurhuleni face collapse as a result of a fallout between the DA and the PA. The DA has accused the PA of using member of mayoral committee (MMC) positions “to advance criminal activities and looting through tenders and of engaging potential coalition partners with a view to extorting them”.
However PA deputy president Kenny Kunene dismissed the DA’s accusations, saying the PA never negotiated with the DA on working together in Joburg and Ekurhuleni. Kunene said the DA’s “arrogance and white supremacist tendencies” are to blame for the looming collapse of coalitions in both Ekurhuleni and Joburg.
“For the record, we never approached the DA with any demands for MMC positions. It is ActionSA that offered us its MMC positions in Joburg and Ekurhuleni,” said Kunene. He accused the DA of collapsing three metros in Gauteng financially in less than one year. Kunene said it was rich for the DA to accuse the PA of having interest in tenders when they (DA) “are masters of tender corruption, which does not get exposed by mainstream media”.
ActionSA national chair Michael Beaumont confirmed that it is indeed his party that offered the PA its MMC positions. Speaking to the Sunday Times, Beaumont said the DA will have no one to blame but itself should it lose control of the Gauteng metros again for being unreasonable to the PA demands to head mayoral committee portfolios in transport and economic development in Joburg and community safety in Ekurhuleni.
Beaumont asked: “How are you accusing people of only wanting portfolios with contracts to enrich themselves, but in the same breath entrusting them with transport, which has a budget of over R5-bn, but have a problem with them running economic development portfolio with far fewer contracts and a budget of only R800-m?”
