Speaking to TimesLIVE, Unisa political analyst Professor Dirk Coetzee said the partnership could survive because there are no positions for support and no party is forced to make concessions.
The agreement removes the issues of negotiation over who holds the senior positions and the municipality presidency committee, and prevents fighting between the two parties. It is a cooperation agreement, not a marriage in which there will be joint campaigns and election manifestos. It’s just a symbolic thing to say that they will cooperate. “It’s a practical arrangement,” Coetzee said.
Coetzee said the IAP has a better chance of upsetting the ANC’s majority rule in the region than the Democratic Alliance Party.
“The IFP has made good progress in the ANC areas. The party is in a good position, it doesn’t have a majority, but it has reached a point where it can erode the ANC’s support. In some by-elections, it has taken some seats from the ANC. If I look at the 2019 and 2021 elections, it’s grown.”
He said that the parties’ cooperation was nothing new as they had worked together in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekorhuleni.