'We are for mayor sharing,' says Malema as EFF eyes Ekurhuleni

ANC had agreed to support an EFF mayor in the metro 'but has since reneged'

10 October 2024 - 22:05
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Julius Malema addresses journalists on Thursday.
Julius Malema addresses journalists on Thursday.
Image: Thapelo Morebudi

After backing the ANC in Johannesburg and ActionSA in Tshwane, the EFF should ordinarily be supported to take the mayorship in Ekurhuleni.

This is according to EFF leader Julius Malema, who said that this was the initial agreement the parties had, but the ANC had since changed its tune.

The EFF played a critical role in delivering the ANC’s Dada Morero as the mayor of Johannesburg last month and again on Wednesday, where ActionSA Nasiphi Moya was ushered in as mayor of Tshwane.

The ANC-led government of local unity is now firmly in charge of three Gauteng metros after the ousting of the DA’s Cilliers Brink in Tshwane. The coalition is made up of several parties, including the ANC, ActionSA, the EFF and the Patriotic Alliance.

As the parties sit to discuss the makeup of the executive in Tshwane, Malema has also shone the spotlight on Ekurhuleni, which has an ANC mayor. Malema says they had an agreement with the ANC to install an EFF mayor, but the ANC had since reneged on this agreement.

“We are for mayor sharing; we are for Tshwane ActionSA, Joburg ANC, Ekurhuleni EFF,” said Malema. “But the ANC, its form and character, is very disloyal to its decisions because we had agreed to this and only changed later against what we agreed on.”

However, Malema said the EFF did not throw its toys out of the cot when the ANC reneged on this decision, as this would have been detrimental to the coalition.

“It’s the nature of coalition politics, you have to navigate all the time, you don’t say because we agreed on this and it’s not working there everything must collapse, no you must battle it out,” he said.

Malema believes there is an intention to completely remove the EFF from the coalition in Ekurhuleni. Earlier this year, EFF councillor and Gauteng chair Nkululeko Dunga was removed as the finance MMC in Ekurhuleni.

There are also murmurs that the ANC is discussing removing another MMC, which would take their MMCs to three in mayor Doctor Xhakaza’s executive. Xhakaza has also recently said he was having talks with the DA with an intention of including its councillors in his executive.

Malema said Xhakaza wanted to get rid of the EFF from his executive because he was “threatened by the young capable leaders” of his party. But Malema said the EFF did not want changes in any of the Gauteng metros as the party was focused on ensuring there is stability in the municipalities they are part of.

He said he was happy with Morero's leadership in Johannesburg whom he has credited with working behind the scenes to clinch the deal in Tshwane.

“We're not calling for the reconstituting of any municipality. We want stability. And from the few days observation I've made as a head of GTU the mayor of Johannesburg despite that he came in tjatjarag with hiring people who come from outside to be security officers, if he continues the way he's continuing he's going to get this municipality stable. Because since he took over there is some sense of what we are doing, and we want that kind of leadership with maturity,” said Malema.

“The deal in Tshwane, by the way, was made possible by Dada Morero who did the behind the scenes [work] for the sake of stability, starting here in Joburg going into Tshwane. So why would you want changes there? We just elected him and so far so good. Let's give Tshwane chance, let's leave that domkop of Ekurhuleni to expose himself.”

TimesLIVE


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