There was yet another episode of the infamous mayoral musical chairs in Tshwane on Wednesday as ActionSA scooped the city's top job.
Dr Nasiphi Moya, the ActionSA top brass leader heading up governance, succeeded her former boss, DA's Cilliers Brink, who was axed recently after an ANC-sponsored no confidence motion.
More than a month ago, Herman Mashaba’s party was rumoured to be flirting with ditching the DA-led multiparty coalition for a newfound alliance with the ANC, similar to the configuration in Johannesburg.
This is a move that resulted from the election of the ANC's regional chairperson Dada Morero in the city of gold, alongside the election of ActionSA speaker Nobuhle Mthembu with the help of the DA's erstwhile partner ActionSA's backing in council.
ActionSA has had a contentious relationship with the DA in the past. This was fuelled by the decision of the blue party to join a government of national unity.
Mashaba's party had been suspicious of the DA's motives to form a multiparty charter with like-minded parties to topple the ANC, seeing this as a strategy to stifle its growth while negotiating for a seat in power with the ANC.
Brink was the last DA mayor in the Gauteng metros after the ANC managed to topple it in Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg.
However, according to ActionSA, they initiated a review of their position in the Tshwane multiparty coalition government arising from a growing concern relating to the regression of service delivery standards in the townships in particular.
According to the DA, the removal of Brink, places DA co-operation with the ANC in other municipalities, such as eThekwini, Ekurhuleni and Nelson Mandela Bay, at risk.
Brink was removed after failed negotiations between the ANC and the DA to reach a deal.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said Brink's removal would affect attempts to expand co-operation between the parties at national level, down to metros and municipalities.
“What's happened has happened, but you can't expect it to be business as usual then. And, you know, we're not going to be playing ball in Nelson Mandela Bay, in eThekwini, in Ekurhuleni ... You can't expect us to just roll over and pretend that Tshwane has never happened and it's business as usual,” he said.
The ANC runs Ekurhuleni and eThekwini with the DA’s co-operation.
DA federal chairperson Helen Zille subsequently shut the door on negotiations with its GNU partner, accusing the ANC of “losing control” over its Gauteng deployees in the establishment of government of local unity talks.
She pointed fingers at Gauteng ANC chairperson and premier Panyaza Lesufi as the culprit causing the friction and “defying national leadership”, saying the “aftershocks will be felt throughout the country”.
In a scathing accusation detailed in a letter written to ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and NEC member David Makhura, she said: “I can only assume that you realised you were losing control of the ANC's internal battle with the Gauteng leadership and did not want to reveal this to us. The events in Tshwane signal the end of the progress we were making countrywide.”
Despite the end of the road with the DA, the ANC continued in its mission to court other political parties for their support, including DA ally the Freedom Front Plus.
FF Plus spokesperson Wouter Wessels confirmed the ANC had reached out to the party, but he insisted there was no agreement in place yet, saying all parties represented in the council were having discussions “to obtain stability” in Tshwane and that “no outcome [had] been reached” at this point.
The ANC has tried to bring on board all parties to co-operate in forming a functional, viable and inclusive government of local unity in Tshwane. But a 'Brink or nothing' approach will never work. Most parties have expressed willingness to be flexible in negotiations and move beyond narrow party-political interests.
— ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri
“The ANC reached out, and there has been a discussion or two on the local and provincial levels. We have, however, not yet had a formal engagement on the national level,” said Wessels.
Though Wessels said the FF Plus had opposed the motion of no confidence that resulted in Brink’s ousting last week, as it had been committed to its coalition with the DA, the party was now focused on bringing stability to the metro.
There was also much lobbying by various ANC structures for the party to field its own candidate while keeping Moya as deputy mayor.
ANC Tshwane regional chair Eugene “Bonzo” Modise and former regional chair Kgosi Maepa have previously been touted as possible Tshwane mayors.
This week, Mbalula summoned Lesufi to the party's headquarters at Luthuli house over his purported anti-GNU stance, which has led to the collapse of negotiations with the DA in the province and local government and which led to the DA being left out of Lesufi’s executive, and his detractors cited this as part of the reason for the removal of Brink as Tshwane mayor.
However, Moya's backing was confirmed after successful late-night talks between the ANC and ActionSA and announced by a joint multiparty press briefing as its candidate before the scheduled special sitting.
ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the parties have concluded their negotiations, saying they will not allow any party to make unreasonable demands or dictate terms on the matter of setting the new coalition in the capital city.
“The ANC has tried to bring on board all parties to co-operate in forming a functional, viable and inclusive government of local unity in Tshwane. But a 'Brink or nothing' approach will never work. Most parties have expressed willingness to be flexible in negotiations and move beyond narrow party-political interests.”
ActionSA's leadership is said to have “painstakingly explained” to the ANC their proposal was not a “Nasiphi Moya or nothing campaign”, unlike the DA.
After extensive engagement about the candidate and the tight time frames to sort out the problems, Bhengu-Motsiri confirmed the party agreed to support Moya.
“This is based on the strength of her experience and her qualifications. We appeal to the people of Tshwane to support councillor Dr Moya and the new leadership team that is embarking on a new path towards better governance, service delivery and inclusive growth.”
She received 122 votes, beating Brink with 86 votes in Wednesday's vote.
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