The ANC in Ekurhuleni held a press briefing on Friday.
Siyamtanda Capa/News24
The ANC in Ekurhuleni has accused ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba of pulling out of coalition talks to protect Tshwane mayor Nasipho Moyo,allegedly under EFF pressure.ActionSA denied the claims,stating its refusal to join Ekurhuleni’s coalition stems from its record of failure and corruption.Ekurhuleni mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza reshuffled the mayoral committee this week,prompting the EFF to withdraw from the coalition over “gross disrespect.”The ANC in Ekurhuleni has accused ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba of stepping away from coalition talks to protect City of Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moyo.
According to ANC Ekurhuleni secretary Jongizizwe Dlabathi,Mashaba was allegedly threatened by the EFF that it would withdraw support for Moyo in the capital city.
Dlabathi made the allegations at a press briefing in Ekurhuleni on Friday.
ActionSA has denied the allegations. The EFF has also dismissed the allegations,labelling them as “nonsense”.
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The briefing came in the wake of a mayoral committee shake-up this week,which saw Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza appoint assault-accused ActionSA councillor Xolani Khumalo as MMC. Xhakaza,who also doubles as ANC Ekurhuleni chairperson,also ousted and demoted some EFF MMCs. The EFF has since withdrawn from the coalition altogether,citing “disrespect”.
Dlabathi said: “ActionSA,in our view,was threatened by the EFF in that if they take up the positions in the city of Ekurhuleni,the EFF will therefore withdraw its support against their mayor in Tshwane. So that is the real reason why the ActionSA has suddenly taken a U-turn from participating in the executive.”
READ | EFF withdraws from Ekurhuleni coalition,vows to block budgets in councils,legislature
Dlabathi said they had learnt on Thursday that ActionSA had withdrawn a motion to establish the deputy mayor position.
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“So the notion that they don’t want to participate in a failing government is actually an illusion,a political reason; there are two fundamental issues.
“They are trying to protect their executive mayor in the city of Tshwane,and,as we said,they submitted a motion for the position of the deputy mayor,and that should be clear and logical that they have an interest in participating in the executive.
“Be that as it may,we view ActionSA as a party that can still play a role in cementing the stability,and we wish to say that our doors continue to be open because we are a functioning municipality and not a municipality in crisis,as it is purported by Mr Mashaba,” Dlabathi said.
ActionSA chairperson Michael Beaumont told News24 that Dlabathi’s comments were false.
“Any such claim is false and the product of bitterness. ActionSA’s refusal to join this government in Ekurhuleni has nothing to do with any other party and everything to do with its record of failure and corruption.
Beaumont said:
ActionSA has declined invitations to join that coalition for two years now,predating our mayoralty in Tshwane,demonstrating the false nature of the claim.
Dlabathi said the process to fill the remaining vacancies in the mayoral committee were at an advanced stage.
Xhakaza said Khumalo’s alignment with ActionSA had also shocked them.
“Xolani,he is from Tembisa,he is from my ward,he grew up in the youth league under our leadership,so his shift to this other party has been shocking to everybody,” Xhakaza said.
Further quizzed on why he had appointed Khumalo,given that he was due in court on Wednesday,Xhakaza said his decision to appoint Khumalo was based on the fact that he was deemed fit to be a councillor.
He added that it was unfortunate that ActionSA appeared to have prioritised Tshwane over Ekurhuleni.
Xhakaza also announced that the three vacancies would be filled by the end of Friday.
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