Despite indications that the newly-elected Nelson Mandela Bay coalition government is not as stable as it seems, most coalition partners, including the mayor, Gary van Niekerk, claim that things cannot be better.

But comments from some political parties suggest there may be cracks in the alliance.

The new partnership is barely two weeks old, following the ousting of the Democratic Alliance's (DA's) Retief Odendaal as mayor in a motion of no confidence last month.

It led to the crumbling of the DA-led coalition.

Van Niekerk, from the Northern Alliance, stepped into Odendaal's shoes, ushering in a new coalition partnership with the Patriotic Alliance (PA), African Independent Congress (AIC), Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and, for the first time, the African National Congress (ANC) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

Marlon Daniels, the national chairperson of the PA, told News24 on Monday that, even before the coalition government was established, there were already issues among the different party members, which still persist.

"The issue is that the EFF is too big for its boots.

They think they can dictate terms in the coalition and do not want Gary [van Niekerk] as mayor.

In their two terms, they have had 14 councillors in council, and not one of them was a coloured person. They have no respect for coloured people," Daniels said.

He added that the PA wholeheartedly supported Van Niekerk as mayor. When asked what the PA's stance was on the EFF's call that the city manager, Noxolo Nqwazi, who faces criminal charges, must resign immediately, Daniels said the EFF could make threats all they like.

The EFF statement called for Nqwazi's immediate resignation as the Hawks investigate her for fraud and corruption.

She and seven others were arrested in September last year following her alleged involvement in a toilet tender contract of more than R24-million that was allegedly fraudulently awarded by the municipality.

The EFF threatened to disrupt the council, saying there would be no orderly sitting in the metro until Nqwazi resigned.

"The PA supports Nqwazi," Daniels said.

"The EFF should not think that Nelson Mandela Bay is a playground. As the PA, we promise one thing: if the EFF wants to make a ruckus in Nelson Mandela Bay, we, as the PA, will change the government in Johannesburg and remove them there.

There is a lot of work to be done in the Bay, and the EFF must focus on service delivery," Daniels said.

However, the EFF's Khanya Ngqisha, the new mayoral committee member for infrastructure and engineering in the metro, said the coalition government was stable and the party's focus remained on ensuring service delivery.

"We still had a mayoral workshop on Saturday, and we are preparing for the next council meeting that will focus on the budget. Our meetings have been very fruitful with coalition partners, and the rumours stating that things are not going well are untrue. We have no interest in making it unstable," Ngqisha said.

He added that the national structure had sent out the statement, and they would only know what to do in the next council meeting once the party had time to caucus.

Responding to Daniels' suggestion that the EFF lacked respect for coloured people and overlooked them for council positions, Ngqisha said the claim was "ludicrous" and didn't make sense because the party was the one to file the motion of no confidence which ultimately ushered Van Niekerk into power.

The ANC's regional spokesperson, Lukhanyo Mzinzi, agreed with Ngqisha that the coalition government was stable.

He said he was confident the new government would finish this term together.

"The coalition is fine. Obviously, we are a new partnership and, since we are from different political parties, there will be differences, but we are quite solid in this government. We have these minor differences, but are quite fine."

According to Mzinzi, the ANC respected all processes involved in the fraud and corruption investigation into the city manager.

Mzinzi said: "We must have respect for the processes of the law and courts, as well as respect for individuals, and will see where the court case leads. The EFF is our friend and partner in this marriage, but we are very much preoccupied with service delivery more than anything else. I am not downplaying other things that might happen around us, but that, for now, is secondary. Ensuring sufficient service delivery is now primary."

The mayoral spokesperson, Kupido Baron, said since coalition talks had been concluded and the agreed-upon deployments were in place. Van Niekerk was confident that the new mayoral committee members could implement the administration's pro-poor agenda.

"We already had a number of management meetings as well as a strategic planning session on Saturday to map out the 100 days implementation plan of the Office of the Executive Mayor. It was well-attended by both senior management and executive committee members, enabling us to come up with an inclusive plan, with clear deliverables."

When asked about the mayor's position on the EFF's statement, demanding Nqwazi's resignation, Baron added that discussions with coalition partners regarding administrative matters and areas of concern were discussed internally and would be dealt with at that level.

The next council meeting is scheduled to sit on Wednesday.