After a number of failed attempts, Ekurhuleni, on Gauteng’s East Rand, managed to pass a budget, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) supporting the African National Congress (ANC).

The ANC currently runs a minority government in Ekurhuleni, and had struggled to pass a budget for the metro since late May. Three attempts to pass the budget failed as the ANC struggled to secure the requisite numbers to pass it.

Previously the ANC had run the metro in a coalition with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) but that relationship soured in February when Ekurhuleni mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza removed two EFF councillors from the mayoral committee.

Currently the ANC runs a minority government in Ekurhuleni, and without the EFF the party has not managed to secure enough support to pass this year's budget, which saw it approaching the DA for support.

All parties represented on the council, with the exception of the EFF, voted in favour of the budget.

The DA said that it had supported the ANC in passing the budget because a number of DA demands had been accepted by the ANC, primarily around limiting the increase in rates that residents will have to pay in the new financial year.

A DA councillor in Ekurhuleni told The Common Sense: “We accepted the budget because they compromised giving into some of our demands”, which was echoed by the DA leader in Gauteng, Solly Msimanga. He said: “In the process, we have secured meaningful reforms. We have used our voting strength to keep the EFF out of Ekurhuleni. We have done so only in return for reforms, unlike other parties that extract positions or patronage.”

This kind of arrangement, where the DA and the ANC work together, is popular among South Africans.

This is especially pertinent ahead of the local government elections, due to be held on 4 November, where a record number of councils are likely to be hung (where no party wins an outright majority). In many of those municipalities the only stable coalition will be one between the DA and the ANC.

And according to polling from the Social Research Foundation, in conjunction with The Common Sense, conducted in February and March this year, this is an arrangement that most South Africans would approve of.

People were asked to respond to the statement: “Should no one party win a majority and the ANC and DA can form a majority together in any municipality or metro after the next local government elections, they should do so and form a coalition together.”

Sixty-five percent of people agreed with the statement while 32% disagreed with it.

This potential governing arrangement was also popular with both ANC and DA supporters. Eighty percent of ANC supporters thought that the two parties should work together in municipalities where the two could form a stable coalition, while 69% of DA supporters held this view.

The collaboration between the ANC and the DA to pass the Ekurhuleni budget has widespread support among voters, and a potential working arrangement between the two parties in municipalities where neither wins a majority after the November elections should be considered seriously by both parties.