Ousted DA, ActionSA react to incoming Joburg mayoral committee

The announcement about the incoming mayoral committee in Johannesburg “validates access to patronage networks”, according to ActionSA.

After the ousting of DA mayor Mpho Phalatse and her swift replacement by Al Jama-ah’s Thapelo Amad last week, coalition partners — the ANC, EFF, ActionSA, Patriotic Alliance (PA) and minority parties — have concluded negotiations on how to co-govern the city and have allocated portfolio responsibilities to the respective parties.

ActionSA, clearly not pleased by the new leadership at the helm of the city, condemned DA leader John Steenhuisen for his statement that “saving Phalatse was too high of a price to pay”, saying the real price too high to pay is for the city’s residents.

“It is regrettable the ANC and EFF gained access to the inner workings of the city. We maintain keeping the PA in the coalition government was in better interest of residents than handing over the entire administration to the ANC and EFF,” said ActionSA caucus leader Funzi Ngobeni.

“With the kleptocratic ANC in control of the finance and infrastructure services portfolios, and the EFF, who once encouraged its supporters to illegally occupy property,  in control of public safety portfolio, the new mayoral committee confirms access to power was prioritised above the needs of residents,” Ngobeni said.

ANC Johannesburg chairperson Dada Morero is taking on the finance portfolio while EFF Johannesburg chairperson Sepetlele Raseruthe is set to assume the public safety post.

Despite disgruntlement about the unfolding events, Ngobeni maintained his party will be constructive opposition in council.

“We will diligently exercise our oversight responsibilities to ensure political cronies are limited as far possible, and that our residents continue to receive the basic services they deserve.

“Residents will find comfort that the ActionSA Johannesburg caucus is ready to defend the interests of all residents on the ground and in council, and ensure corruption and maladministration is exposed and limited whenever it occurs,” Ngobeni said.

The party leader emphasised its councillors would hold the incoming administration to account to ensure the interests of Johannesburg residents are protected and the gains achieved by the ousted multiparty government are not reversed.

“These include the extended public safety initiatives, such as the deployment of metro police across the city to conduct block patrols, the implementation of the informal trade policy to ensure order and accountability in the sector, and the investments made in the construction of hundreds of kilometres of new roads in the city.”

Ngobeni said through questions in council, “and mobilising our ward activists to place pressure on local officials”, the party would ensure residents receive the assistance they need.

Steenhuisen has stuck to his guns regarding his comments about saving Joburg, saying principles matter most when sticking to them is hard and not convenient to do so.

“I have said it before and I will say it again, when it comes to coalition negotiations, as with other decisions, the DA will choose that option which we believe to be in the best long-term interest of South Africa.

“It was painful to hand control of Johannesburg to an ANC-EFF-PA coalition under the hapless ‘placeholder’ mayorship of Thapelo Amad of Al Jama-ah, a party that did not even get 1% of the vote, but it was undoubtedly the lesser of two evils. The alternative was to give in to extortion by the PA and compromise the DA’s credibility as a party of principle,” he said.

The official opposition party leader said the proportional representation system and fragmented voting gives “enormous disproportionate power to smaller parties who become ‘kingmakers’, able to install a coalition at their whim in exchange for their demands being met”, calling it a “subversion of democracy”.  

“In Joburg’s case, the PA, a party with less than 3% of the vote and led by two convicted criminals, was open and unashamed about offering power to whichever coalition would give it access to the greatest opportunities for patronage and extraction.  

“The DA was not prepared to engage in the politics of extortion by handing over control of Joburg’s coffers to the PA. The DA painstakingly built a multiparty government in Johannesburg to offer a distinct alternative to ANC rule, marked by zero-tolerance for corruption,” Steenhuisen said.

He said voting for small parties is risky as it fragments a council and leads to large and unstable coalitions, extortion politics, a subversion of democracy and bad service delivery.

“The DA will not go into government at all costs, and we will not compromise on our core principles. We’d rather be a principled opposition than be part of corrupt coalitions.”

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