The ANC’s unsuccessful and messy power grabs in the Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni metros have been placed squarely at the feet of former mayor Mzwandile Masina, and the party says moves are afoot to have him charged for his role in it.
The political mess has become a public-relations nightmare for the party and could further erode its chances in the 2024 national and provincial elections.
Masina, who is the regional chair of the party in Ekurhuleni, has been charged with bringing the party into disrepute for defying the ANC’s leaders by moving forward with the motion of no confidence against Ekurhuleni mayor Tania Campbell against instructions from its provincial leadership.
An ANC provincial executive committee source, who declined to be named, said Masina faced possible suspension. But that decision lies with the provincial working committee (PWC).
According to more insiders, the motion was premature as provincial leaders had not concluded their discussions with the EFF.
“This man is told we have a plan; do not put the motion. What does he do? He goes ahead and does his own thing, undermining an upper structure,” said the provincial leader.
Said another insider: “That motion did not go through the normal internal structures. The acting regional secretary did not even know there was such a motion.”
Contacted for comment, provincial secretary TK Nciza confirmed the disciplinary action against Masina. “We don’t freestyle in the ANC,” Nciza said.
Masina could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, EFF leader Julius Malema on Thursday confirmed his party was in talks with the ANC’s provincial and national office bearers with a view to unseat the DA in both Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg.
“We had an agreement with the ANC for them to take Joburg and for us to take Ekhuruleni,” Malema said.
The EFF wanted to field the party’s Gauteng chair and caucus leader Nkululeko Dunga in Ekurhuleni and wanted the ANC to support him.
He said problems arose when the ANC councillors nominated Jongizizwe Dlabathi to run for mayor in Ekurhuleni. That is when the EFF withdrew from the deal with the ANC.
“It is not our fault the ANC did things wrongly in Joburg and the courts overturned it,” another EFF leader told Business Day.
DA federal council chair Helen Zille said in an interview with Business Day that the official opposition party was shocked when the EFF voted with the DA to reinstall councillor Tania Campbell as executive mayor of Ekurhuleni during a dramatic council meeting on Tuesday.
The EFF, which has 31 seats in the council, voted with the DA multiparty coalition, which holds 93 seats. This allowed Campbell to snatch back the mayoral chain with 124 votes, trouncing ANC Ekurhuleni deputy regional chair Dlabathi who received 99 votes. There was one spoilt vote.
“We didn’t expect it. It was an anti-ANC vote,” said Zille.
Zille said last-minute negotiations to hammer out a deal between the two political parties “broke down in the early hours of Tuesday morning, after which the EFF instructed their councillors to vote for us”.
Campbell was removed through an ANC-sponsored motion of no confidence on October 26, leaving the city without a permanent political head for more than two weeks, resulting in heaps of rubbish left uncollected across the metro’s suburbs and townships, among other service delivery challenges.
Her removal highlighted the instability of coalition governments as there is no legal framework upon which they are established and agreed on.
Zille said the EFF did not consult the DA about its plans to vote with the multiparty coalition government.
“No-one that I have spoken to knows anything about an EFF approach on Saturday. I spoke to Tania [Campbell]. She says there was no EFF approach. I spoke to [DA Gauteng leader] Solly Msimanga and Thomas Walters and the both said the same thing,” she said. with TimesLIVE
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