Baloyi has pushed ActionSA for a rethink on coalitions with regard to the ANC, but Mashaba is adamant it will never get into bed with the governing party.
“So if you speak about the ANC and try to create a sense that we need to reconsider our position on coalitions, you are seen as an ANC person,” a regional leader close to Baloyi told the Sunday Times. “That’s how they brand you and from there you are looked at, you are investigated.”
Baloyi jumped ship after Mashaba removed him as the party’s Gauteng chairperson, offering to appoint him as spokesperson instead.
A contributing factor in the Baloyi-Mashaba tension, according to insiders, was a move to persuade Mashaba to refrain from casting party policies based on his personal beliefs.
“We try to engage him on his policy articulations and try to correct him and show that when he speaks on policy at this level, he’s no longer speaking as Mashaba but represents the party,” the insider said.
“So it’s important that policy articulation is what the party agreed to ... and not what he believes. It’s not about his values or morals. We tried to show him that when he speaks he must stop using statements like ‘Over my dead body’, ‘I as Mashaba’ — now it’s about us, it’s about the party, it’s ‘we’.”
At the time, ActionSA national chair Michael Beaumont dismissed as “ridiculous” the allegation that Baloyi was being axed because of a breakdown in his relationship with Mashaba.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
Bongani Baloyi set to announce his next political move
Image: Thulani Mbele
Just weeks after his dramatic exit from ActionSA, Bongani Baloyi is on Thursday expected to announce his next political move.
Though it is unclear what this will be, Baloyi has on numerous occasions been linked with a move to the ANC. He has, however, ruled this out, even though he enjoys good relations with the party's Gauteng leaders.
The former Midvaal mayor is also not returning to the DA, which he quit in December 2021.
When asked about the move and whether he is considering launching a new outfit, Baloyi simply said: “Wait for the announcement.”
He shocked the country when he quit ActionSA due to soured relations with party leader Herman Mashaba just a year after joining it. The two are said to have had “irreconcilable differences”, mostly because of Mashaba’s anti-ANC stance.
Mashaba: ActionSA still going strong in Gauteng despite Baloyi’s exit and fired councillors
Baloyi has pushed ActionSA for a rethink on coalitions with regard to the ANC, but Mashaba is adamant it will never get into bed with the governing party.
“So if you speak about the ANC and try to create a sense that we need to reconsider our position on coalitions, you are seen as an ANC person,” a regional leader close to Baloyi told the Sunday Times. “That’s how they brand you and from there you are looked at, you are investigated.”
Baloyi jumped ship after Mashaba removed him as the party’s Gauteng chairperson, offering to appoint him as spokesperson instead.
A contributing factor in the Baloyi-Mashaba tension, according to insiders, was a move to persuade Mashaba to refrain from casting party policies based on his personal beliefs.
“We try to engage him on his policy articulations and try to correct him and show that when he speaks on policy at this level, he’s no longer speaking as Mashaba but represents the party,” the insider said.
“So it’s important that policy articulation is what the party agreed to ... and not what he believes. It’s not about his values or morals. We tried to show him that when he speaks he must stop using statements like ‘Over my dead body’, ‘I as Mashaba’ — now it’s about us, it’s about the party, it’s ‘we’.”
At the time, ActionSA national chair Michael Beaumont dismissed as “ridiculous” the allegation that Baloyi was being axed because of a breakdown in his relationship with Mashaba.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
READ MORE:
'You will never intimidate me': Bongani Baloyi takes aim as he leaves ActionSA
‘He has a good mentality but politics is a jungle’: McKenzie says Baloyi will not last two hours in PA
Herman Mashaba responds to ‘dictator’ claims amid Bongani Baloyi’s resignation
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most read
Latest Videos