With just a week to go until the deadline for Tshwane to elect a new mayor, it is still unclear how the tense tango between the ANC and the DA will end. This situation may now reveal much about how the two are trying to weaken each other while at the same time having to work together. And this may also reveal whether the DA can reverse the current coalition pattern where the ANC always gets the top job.

Listen to this article 7 min Listen to this article 7 min There can be no doubt that the decision by the Tshwane ANC to first bring the motion to remove the DA's Cilliers Brink as mayor, and then to vote to remove him, is part of the first set of crises for the new national coalition government.

But this also means that the way the situation is resolved may indicate how the top governing parties may resolve differences between them over the next few years in national government.

This makes the negotiations between them both vitally important and seriously complicated. In reality, these talks are about several positions across different spheres of government.

Why it matters

An important part of these talks is about who holds power and where; and it matters.

For example, if Tshwane cannot elect a new mayor before next week's deadline, technically the province of Gauteng is supposed to intervene. The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC in Gauteng is Jacob Mamabolo.

He is from the ANC, but also the SACP, which has been vocally opposed to the formation of the national coalition government. This means Mamabolo might be tempted to intervene in Tshwane in...