Gauteng set for ‘final showdown’
The final major metro in Gauteng is set for a showdown over the mayoral seat, with the City of Tshwane set for a change in its executive.
This follows changes in the cities of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni in recent months as the ANC moved to make a clean sweep in the province.
On 14 September, ActionSA announced that it is cutting ties with the Democratic Alliance (DA)-led governing coalition that it has been part of in Tshwane and boasted several MMCs as well as the deputy mayor position.
Given that no single party received an outright majority in the 2021 local government elections, the Tshwane metropolitan municipality, which contributes around 10% of the national GDP, is governed by a coalition.
The current coalition in Tshwane has been in place for the past year and a half. It comprises the DA, ActionSA, Vryheidsfront Plus (VF+), the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), and the African Christian Democratic Movement (ACDP), with the DA’s Cillliers Brink serving as mayor.
These parties made up a slim majority in the council, sporting 108/214 seats; however, the coalition in Tshwane has been on a knife’s edge amid tensions between the DA and ActionSA.
For weeks, Mashaba and ActionSA have been vocal about the working relationship with the DA-led coalition as well as service delivery in Tshwane, claiming that poor areas were being ignored.
Now, ActionSA’s decision to leave the coalition means that their 19 councillors will not be voting exclusively for the coalition – a headache for Brink, who faces another motion of no confidence filed by the African National Congress (ANC) set to take place on 26 September.
“We’ve got to cut our ties with this coalition government. Free at last!” ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba told party supporters on 14 September.
“If one looks at our performance in the recent elections, I can tell you without any shadow of a doubt that one of the contributing factors to our performance was our association with the so-called Multi-Party Charter.”
“Our partners in the coalition arrangement [DA] took advantage of this, exploited us, abused us. I’m glad to announce to you that the senate took a decision yesterday [Friday] that ActionSA in Tshwane is no longer going to be part of this multiparty charter,” added Mashaba.
While administrations across the Gauteng have been seemingly playing musical chairs since 2021, the ANC has (only recently) managed to reclaim the mayoral seats in the majority of Gauteng’s municipalities through the support of various parties.
Notably, the party recently reclaimed the mayorship of two of the province’s three metropolitans —Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni.
Now, the ANC is looking to make it three for three in the metros by reclaiming Tshwane.
ActionSA’s recent decision means that this is one step closer to becoming a reality.
It has been reported that ActionSA and the ANC previously discussed that if the party ditched the DA-led coalition, ActionSA could, in turn, occupy the mayoral seat while the ANC takes the speaker position – something that has allegedly not been discussed in recent weeks.
This is said to have been part of the informal talks the parties have had since clinching a deal to install the ANC’s Dada Morero as mayor of Johannesburg last month, a move that ActionSA was integral to.
However, ActionSA said that it would need “more time to consult with various possible coalition partners for the best outcome,” and if they “fail to secure an alternative coalition government,” they will rejoin the opposition benches in Tshwane.
DA Tshwane spokesperson Kwena Moloto said in a statement before ActionSA’s decision was announced that they and their partners in the Tshwane coalition “made every attempt to persuade ActionSA to not withdraw from the coalition and to desist from making public attacks on the same government in which it serves.”
Moloto added that their coalition viewed that ActionSA could “no longer be relied on.”
Luthuli House and DA Fed Ex negotiations
While the ANC and DA have consistently fought in Gauteng councils, some in the parties’ national leadership have been engaged in informal talks “to create stability in the Tshwane and Ekurhuleni metro.”
Brink, Helen Zille, chairperson of the DA’s federal council, and Thomas Walters, deputy chairperson of the DA’s federal council, reached out to the ANC again last week to achieve a stability agreement.
According to this agreement, the DA would leave the ANC to govern Ekurhuleni until the 2026 local elections and the ANC would do the same and allow Brink to govern in Tshwane.
This comes amid the ANC and DA’s involvement in co-governing agreements at both the national and provincial levels in KwaZulu-Natal.
However, News24 reported that these talks have come to a standstill.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula told News24 he could not discuss the stability negotiations but said the ANC would not join a coalition that did not serve its interests and those of residents in Tshwane while prioritising “stability.”
“We are tired of having mayors changed week in and week out. We will not be part of any arrangement that does not guarantee stability going forward.
“The ANC, nationally, has reflected on these matters, and this is overarching in everything that we do. We are one year away from the elections, and municipalities must deliver for the people,” added Mbalula.
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