Tshwane has a new mayor

The City of Tshwane has its fourth mayor in three years – ActionSA’s Dr Nasiphi Moya.

Moya was elected mayor of the country’s administrative capital by fellow councillors on 9 October, beating the DA’s Cilliers Brink 122 votes to 86.

Her candidacy was supported by the ANC, ActionSA, EFF and other minority parties following the removal of Brink in a motion of no confidence on 26 September.

Moya had served as Deputy Mayor during the previous coalition comprising the DA, VF+, ActionSA, ACDP and IFP.

However, ActionSA’s relationship with the DA soured and the party decided to cut ties and support the no confidence motion against Brink.

“The anxiety and political instability that has plagued this city is not lost on me, but my vow today is to put the politics of the past behind us and bring stability to the city,” said Moya in her acceptance speech.

In a statement, the ANC said that it supported the no-confidence vote against Brink and election of Moya as it is “deeply concerned about the financial position of the City” which represents 26.8% of the Gauteng’s GDP and 9.4% of the GDP of the national economy – something ActionSA echoed.

The ANC said that it would have wanted to provide a candidate for the Mayor, as the largest party represented in council but “agreed to support the candidature of [Moya] based on the strength of her experience and qualifications.”

Following the national and provincial elections, ActionSA changed its tune about working with the ANC at a local government level, while opting to sit in opposition benches at a national and provincial level.

However at a local government level, the two worked together on the removal of Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda, which paved the way for ANC’s Dada Morero to be reelected and ActionSA’s Nobuhle Mthembu assent to council speaker position.

This then materialised in Tshwane, where ActionSA supported the ANC’s motion to boot Brink from the mayorship and ultimately paved the way for Moya to secure the city’s top job.

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said at a press briefing before the council vote that “the beauty about it is with the ANC as the lead party in this partnership [they are] very supportive.”

He also said that he has personal experience working with the EFF whilst mayor of Johannesburg, which he described as productive.

Mashaba added that he believes Moya is best suited to head the country’s administrative capital, stabilise its finances, and provide residents with services.

In an interview with Newzroom Afrika on 8 October, DA Federal Chairperson Helen ZIlle said that before the motion of no confidence against Brink, the ANC and DA were in discussions to try and form a ‘stability pact’ for South Africa’s hung metros.

“My understanding was that the national ANC was keen to have stability pacts (with GNU partners) in all of the major metros, meaning that we would leave the ANC mayor in Ekurhuleni and they would leave our mayor in Tshwane, etc.”

However, she claimed that ANC Gauteng chairperson Panyaza Lesufi “refused to cooperate with that project by sponsoring and supporting a motion to take out our mayor in Tshwane, and that hardly enables stability to happen in that city,” where she said that the city’s finances “were stabilising.”

Zille added that she believes that this comes out of a refusal by the Gauteng ANC chair to work with the DA.

“You will remember that after having negotiated a Government of National Unity when we went to the provinces, we couldn’t get an agreement in Gauteng because Lesufi refused to make us a fair offer.

“We were six percentage points behind the ANC in Gauteng, but they wanted to give us three meaningless portfolios that accounted for 2% of the budget. He wasn’t serious, he didn’t want us in the coalition, that was the point and we saw that he was running counter to the national ANC at that point,” added Zille.

The DA called on the ANC to reinstate Brink as mayor or stability talks would be dead and buried. This now appears to be the case.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said at a press briefing on 8 October that “the approach of the DA that we must bring back Brink or nothing is unacceptable.”

“Everything that you do has risks, and the ANC is fully aware of what is happening in Tshwane and that the municipality has been run down over the years.” 

News24 reported that Mbalula reversed his decision to charge Lesufi for bringing the party into disrepute.

Mbalula initially summoned Lesufi to Luthuli House to explain himself over his recent comments regarding the GNU.

However, the ANC SG later acknowledged that after listening to Lesufi’s podcast appearance, he realised the premier had not badmouthed the GNU.

Mbalula characterised the recent meeting as a fact-finding mission, emphasising that there was no tension between them.

He added, “We have no control over Zille. She is a leader of the Democratic Alliance. What she says about the ANC, we dismiss; it is her view. If I were to respond to Helen Zille, I would have long turned grey.”  

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