Johannesburg coalition talks are taking shape with ActionSA leader and former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba signalling that a deal with the DA and the EFF may be in the offing.
While Mashaba has shown little or no inclination to work with the EFF, Business Day understands the EFF leadership has asked the ANC if it is willing to give Mashaba the Johannesburg mayorship in exchange for the stewardship of Ekurhuleni.
The EFF’s leadership is also on record as saying that it wants to govern, and it has identified Tshwane as the other Gauteng metro it would want to be lead.
Though ActionSA is not opposed to working with the EFF, after meeting with the party on Monday Mashaba said its demand for land expropriation without compensation is a deal-breaker.
During discussions with the DA and the EFF, Mashaba said on Tuesday, the option of him being elected mayor of Johannesburg in exchange for ActionSA’s support in another hung municipality was not put on the table.
“For us to put such a minor issue as a precondition [for ActionSA support] would be irresponsible.… We also want to be in government but we are not going to put as a precondition [someone] that will be a deal-breaker. Let’s put in the best person as a mayor.… We are not going to put in someone for convenience,” Mashaba said.
ActionSA’s coalition task team, which includes the party’s Gauteng chair, met last week with DA federal council chair Helen Zille and deputy federal chair Mike Walters to discuss the possibility of a coalition after it emerged as the kingmaker in the crucial metros of Johannesburg and Tshwane.
However, no agreement was reached, according to ActionSA’s John Moodey. Still, the party has decided to shun any coalition agreements with the ANC after a consultation process with supporters in which the majority of 17,636 respondents voted for the party to work with the DA and not the ANC.
“There was a proposal put forth by them [the DA] about Tshwane that they want a stable government that can deliver services … [and] my response was, why do we not include Johannesburg, because we have an omnibus approach where we speak on coalitions in all municipalities where we have contested elections,” Moodey said on Tuesday.
Mashaba resigned from the DA and the city in 2019, citing the internal pushback he faced in the DA against his pro-poor policies. He previously told Business Day that during his three-year tenure as mayor he took exception to an approach from a senior member of the DA, who asked him to get in touch with the MMC for community safety and the city’s chief of police in order to discuss tenders.
But his soured relationship with the DA is “water under the bridge”, the ActionSA leader said. “Is the party corrupt? I cannot really say they are corrupt and it is for that reason I am happy to continue discussions with them,” Mashaba said.
In Johannesburg, the DA requires 136 seats to regain the city, but it secured 71 in last week’s voting, while the ANC took 91. ActionSA will have 44 seats, making its support crucial for any party wanting to lead the city.
In Tshwane, ActionSA won 19 seats, the DA 69 and the ANC 75. The EFF won 23 seats.
Parties have until November 23 to constitute municipal councils, failing which a rerun of the elections would be required in line with legislation.
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