ActionSA, which has 15 crucial seats in the troubled Ekurhuleni council and is instrumental to DA executive mayor Tania Campbell’s continued leadership, has pulled out of the multiparty government saying it will be voting with the coalition on a case-by-case basis.
This means the governing coalition would have to please and accede to ActionSA’s demands in return for its votes if it is to pass crucial council items such as the upcoming adjustment budget and other service delivery items.
The developments at Ekurhuleni could lead to a hung council, in which no political party holds a majority of the council seats, and affect the delivery of services to communities.
This is but one of the challenges of coalition governments, which political analysts say are unstable, shrouded in secrecy and are more about staying in power than the delivery of services.
ActionSA Gauteng chair Bongani Baloyi in a media briefing on Monday said the party was no longer in a coalition with the DA in Ekurhuleni. “We will apply our minds on a case-by-case basis,” he said.
This comes after Campbell was re-elected as the metro’s first citizen a week ago, after her ousting through a vote of no confidence on October 26.
The Ekurhuleni council has 224 seats, and a clear majority of 50% plus 1 (113) is needed to pass the budget and votes of no confidence. Of the 224, the ANC has 86 seats, DA 65, EFF 31, ActionSA 15, Freedom Front Plus eight, IFP two and ACDP two, with smaller parties accounting for 10 seats.
Campbell snatched back the mayoral chain — with the help of the EFF’s 31 votes — after trouncing ANC chief whip Jongizizwe Dlabathi with 124 votes to 99. There was one spoilt vote.
ActionSA pulling out of the agreement means the multiparty coalition’s voting bloc has been reduced from 93 to 78.
But the ActionSA leadership said the party would block any attempts of the metro takeover by the ANC. After Campbell’s reinstatement, EFF leader Julius Malema said the red berets would not vote with the ANC to remove the DA mayors in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni.
At the media briefing on Monday, ActionSA national chair Michael Beaumont said events of the past few weeks at Ekurhuleni had been “tumultuous” and caused great concerns to residents as they affected service delivery and threatened instability in the metro.
“The return of the ANC [to power] is something we cannot tolerate,” Beaumont said.
ActionSA conducted a survey among 30,000 participants in October, with the overwhelming majority voting against the party entering into a coalition with the ANC. “We will defeat motions of no confidence from the ANC and EFF and keep the ANC out of governance.”
Beaumont said the party, whose two councillors served in the mayoral committee as MMCs for public service; and health and social development, would not be taking up positions in Campbell’s cabinet because “we are dissatisfied with service delivery in the metro”.
He said service delivery priorities in the signed coalition agreement had not been implemented.
The national chair said a recent poll of 3,000 Ekurhuleni residents found that 62% believed the city had been moving in the wrong direction in the past year.
On voting with the multiparty government, Beaumont said: “We will apply our minds ... and vote on issues on a case-by-case basis. We will explain our reasons for doing so [in order] to conduct ourselves in a transparent manner.”
Campbell’s spokesperson Warren Gwilt said: “ActionSA are free to move out of coalition should they wish to but we will continue to engage with them. We are very well aware of the challenges existing in the city, and we are happy they will vote with us to keep the ANC out.”
Gwilt said the multiparty government remained committed to delivering services to communities. “We are still happy with ActionSA and that they will work with us on an issue by issue-by-issue basis, instead of disappearing completely,” he said.
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