The ANC, ActionSA and EFF have 14 days to establish a new government in Tshwane, SA’s capital city, after voting together to remove the DA’s Cilliers Brink as executive mayor.
The vote on the ANC-sponsored no-confidence motion against Brink was 87 councillors against, 120 for and one abstaining. “The motion is carried,” council speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana said, ending Brink’s term as mayor to which he was elected in March 2023.
Brink’s removal was expected as the ANC, ActionSA and EFF bloc have altogether 117 of the council’s 214 seats. His removal came after last-minute ANC-DA talks failed on Wednesday night.
ActionSA was initially part of the DA-led multiparty coalition governing Tshwane, holding the deputy mayor position through Nasiphi Moyo and other mayoral committee positions until it fell out with the DA. ActionSA’s senate opted to cut ties with the DA after months of tension.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba was criticised for working with the ANC to oust Brink, despite saying previously he would never work with the ANC. He said after the vote against Brink that the ANC was amenable to his party’s proposal that Moyo take over as mayor, but nothing was finalised.
ActionSA Gauteng chair Funzi Ngobeni said if Brink were an ANC mayor, “he would be regarded by the same people who defend him now as an average mayor by any objective measurement of the current state of the City of Tshwane”.
In recent market research conducted as part of ActionSA’s review, 54% of respondents said they believed the city got worse in the past 18 months and 10% indicated no improvements were experienced, said Ngobeni.
“In suburban communities, 64% of respondents indicated an improvement in service delivery, while in townships this number was as low as 24% ... It is for this reason, and many others, that ActionSA Tshwane councillors joined forces with the ANC and other parties in voting [Brink] out.
“Within 14 days we will join forces again in voting in the new executive mayor.”
ANC Gauteng secretary Thembinkosi “TK” Nciza said: “Since coming into office in August 2016, the DA-led multiparty government has done nothing but reverse some of the most important work that it inherited from the ANC-led coalition government that preceded it.”
Under the DA-led coalition the metro had “unprecedented governance instability. In just the last eight years, the DA has had five mayors all of [whom] disgracefully left office, including mayoral committees that have been reshuffled numerous times. This had devastating consequences for the critical work that the city has been involved in — work that anchors the economic growth and development objectives of the municipality,” Nciza said.
EFF Gauteng chair Nkululeko Dunga welcomed Brink’s “long overdue” removal and the “collapse of his executive”.
“The EFF Gauteng urges all political organisations to act with maturity in establishing a new government that prioritises the needs of all Tshwane residents as soon as possible.
“We remain committed to the establishment of a stable, accountable, and corruption-free government that serves the people with dignity and respect.”
Unisa political analyst Lesifa Teffo said Tshwane’s administration was politicised, with most staff supporting the ANC. “In the main they sabotaged the DA. I say let’s professionalise the public service.
“Until we have that, we will have musical chairs ad nauseam,” said Teffo.
He said the people who voted for Mashaba “are sympathisers of the ANC so he is taking the very same vote back to the ANC. He must be worried that he is being supported by the ANC. It’s a kiss of death [for] the action that he took,” said Teffo.
Update: September 26 2024.
This article has been updated with information throughout.
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