FF+ switch to ANC puts 8 more Cape municipalities at risk of ending DA governance - Burke

After three decades as the DA’s fast friend and a self-described ‘reliable partner’, the FF+ has switched sides in the long-troubled Oudsthoorn local government. The FF+’s three seats were a critical block in a 25-seat council, where the ANC and DA each have seven seats. According to the FF+, former Mayor Chris McPherson is the reason for the split. But the DA’s Oudsthoorn constituency head, Mandela Rhodes Scholar and former fintech entrepreneur Dr Mark Burke, says his party’s former ally has long been spoiling for a fight, and is using McPherson as an excuse. Burke says the split in the Western Cape town has implications for at least another eight municipalities in the province where the two parties are currently in coalition. He spoke to BizNews editor Alec Hogg.