ANC relying heavily on other parties in attempt to unseat Mashaba

The African National Congress in Johannesburg believes it has enough ammunition in its arsenal to convince other political parties that Mayor Herman Mashaba has failed the people of the city.

The Democratic Alliance’s Mashaba‚ a relative novice in politics‚ will find out in two weeks if he can cling to power‚ as his predecessor the ANC wants to intensify its motion of no confidence in him‚ 14 months after he took the reins from former mayor Parks Tau.

"We are hoping to get support from the African Independent Congress‚ which is a partner in council of the ANC. We also have the Patriotic Alliance [as] a partner with the ANC in council‚ and they have agreed to support us‚" said ANC regional spokesperson Jolidee Matongo.

"We are speaking to a number of DA councillors – because... [those DA councillors] don’t think Mashaba has the requisite expertise to lead them in governing the city‚" Matongo told TimesLIVE.

He said that these councillors believe the DA will lose the chance to showcase what the party can do when they govern a city like Johannesburg‚ if Mahsaba stays in office. Matongo said these unnamed councillors informed the regional ANC that they want Mashaba removed‚ but when the time comes for a new mayor to be elected‚ they will support a DA mayor and not an ANC mayor.

Matongo revealed to TimesLIVE on Monday that the ANC is also approaching the Economic Freedom Fighters‚ through Gauteng ANC chairperson Paul Mashatile‚ who is leading the discussion with the national leadership of the red berets.

EFF chairperson in the metro Musa Novela said he was not aware that the ANC was speaking to the party‚ as they have not been informed.

"That's not true – we haven't been approached by anybody. The agenda of the ANC is not holistic; they want to cling onto power [at] all costs‚ because they want to continue with their corruption‚" Novela said.

"We are not saying we are happy with [Mashaba’s] performance‚ but we are saying that the ANC's motion is motivated by something [other than] the performance of the mayor. We voted against the ANC on August 22‚ and our position as the EFF remains. We are never going to vote in favour of corruption‚" Novela told TimesLIVE.

Efforts to confirm Matongo’s claim with the national leadership of the EFF drew a blank‚ as phones rang unanswered.

In September‚ South Gauteng High Court Judge Sidwell Shangisa struck from the roll the ANC's bid to have a motion of no confidence in Mashaba and speaker Vasco da Gama debated before council‚ due to lack of urgency. Shangisa ordered the ANC to pay the legal costs of both Mashaba and Da Gama.

The ANC wanted to force a secret ballot to unseat Mashaba in the first motion‚ and in the second one‚ they intended to oust the speaker – hoping to achieve this during a council meeting on 27 September.

Instead‚ the no-confidence motion has been added to the agenda for a council meeting on 25 November.