ANC meets with EFF to discuss coalitions in municipal councils

The ANC and EFF met to discuss “issues pertaining to the composition of municipal councils and mutual matters of governance”.

ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula gave details about the meeting in a social media post on Friday, 13 November 2026.

He said that the discussions included ensuring continuity in local governance ahead of the first council sittings, preventing any leadership or administrative vacuum.

“The teams concluded a productive meeting and will meet again,” Mbalula said following the meeting.

Economic Freedom Fighters Secretary General Marshall Dlamini said that the meeting with the ANC was productive.

“The ANC must make a clear choice to embrace black consciousness and reject any arrangement that legitimises the enemies of progress,” he said.

“It must put the people first and consider the lived realities of communities in Soweto, Gugulethu and Khayelitsha.”

He said that these South Africans continue to bear the consequences of poor service delivery and inequality.

“Coalition negotiations must be guided by the interests and material needs of these communities, not by the preservation of political power for its own sake,” he said.

The EFF’s statement aligns with that of the ‘Council of the Left’, which was released on 12 November 2026.

This council included left parties such as the South African Communist Party (SACP), uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), and the EFF.

It also includes smaller parties, such as the African Congress for Transformation (ACT), the Afrika Mayibuye Movement and the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC).

The council promoted coalitions which adopt a pro-poor programme, reverse apartheid spatial planning, and prioritise basic service delivery for the poor.

SACP General Secretary Solly Mapaila urged black parties to work together to prevent the DA and the Freedom Front from governing.

“We may have been unable to articulate this question properly during the election campaigns that our people do not vote for them,” he said.

“We felt it was important to take political responsibility and clarify for ourselves that those forces do not stand for their interest.”

It added that it will only support the ANC in hung municipalities if it cuts ties with right-wing parties in local governments and the Government of National Unity (GNU).