Former Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has confirmed that he was approached by the Democratic Alliance about forming a coalition to wrest power from the ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay.
However‚ he said he had referred the DA to United Front leaders in the metro
“Yes it’s true DA came to me looking for a possibility of a coalition Govt. I referred them to the UF leaders in the NMM‚” Vavi said on Twitter.
The Sunday Times reported on Sunday that DA leader Mmusi Maimane was courting Vavi as the official opposition party intensified its bid to wrest Nelson Mandela Bay metro from the ANC in the coming local government elections.
The newspaper said it could reveal that Maimane and Vavi had met at a Johannesburg hotel on February 1 to discuss forming a coalition government in the highly contested Eastern Cape municipality should the ANC fail to win an outright majority there.
“At the meeting were Maimane‚ Vavi and a former ANC mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay‚ Zanoxolo Wayile. National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa general secretary Irvin Jim was invited but did not pitch.
Approached for comment yesterday‚ Jim said he had no knowledge of the meeting and referred the Sunday Times to Vavi‚” the report stated.
It added that‚ according to some insiders‚ the DA was prepared to offer Vavi the post of deputy mayor if his newly formed United Front won a sizable number of wards and helped to reduce the ANC’s majority to under 50% on August 3.
The United Front‚ launched by Vavi and the trade union Numsa this year‚ is a coalition of trade unions and civil society organisations.
Vavi tweeted on Sunday that it was not a political party but “an anti-neo liberal coalition of unions and civil society”.
“2015 polls in NMM shows ANC will win 43%‚ DA 37% & a not launched United Front could get up to 34%. There will be a coalition Govt there‚” he stated in another tweet.
