The ACDP, which is part of the governing coalition in capital city Tshwane, says it will not be part of machinations to remove DA mayor Cilliers Brink.
This follows reports that the ACDP would join ActionSA, the ANC and the EFF to oust Brink from the influential position and, by extension, the mayoral executive committee.
The ANC has been in negotiations with ActionSA and other smaller political parties represented in the council with the aim of removing the mayor. Plans to remove Brink follow the resignation of Kabelo Gwamanda as Johannesburg mayor after the ANC clinched a deal with ActionSA and other parties.
ActionSA, which initially supported the DA-led coalition government in Tshwane, has changed its stance in recent months after Herman Mashaba’s party accused the DA of undermining it.
Among other accusations, ActionSA alleges that DA councillors deliberately spoilt their ballots instead of voting for an ActionSA candidate as speaker. This led to African Transformation Movement (ATM) councillor Mncedi Ndzwanana being elected as council speaker in March 2023.
ActionSA and ANC also have accused the DA in Tshwane of neglecting black townships in rolling out service delivery to communities, an allegation the DA denies.
ANC Tshwane regional chair Eugene Modise told Business Day recently that the ANC would support ActionSA if it wanted either the speaker or mayor position in Tshwane after the removal of Brink. Modise said the ANC and other smaller political parties would share the executive positions among themselves.
ACDP deputy president Wayne Thring said the party noted with “great concern recent media reports that it will support the ANC and EFF in the Tshwane metro municipality in an effort to unseat the mayor via a motion of no confidence.
“Since 2021, the ACDP has committed itself to the co-governing agreement with our political party partners in Tshwane, which include the IFP, FF+ [Freedom Front Plus], ActionSA and the DA. Our position in this regard has not changed.
“The ACDP will conduct an internal investigation into how our position in the City of Tshwane was miscommunicated and will take necessary corrective action. We will ensure that if there are any changes to our position within the multiparty charter, those changes are communicated through our official channels.
“To emphasise our position, the ACDP is not part of the progressive caucus in Tshwane and we will not support a motion of no confidence against the current Tshwane mayor.”
Tshwane is run by a multiparty coalition including the DA, IFP, ACDP, ActionSA, FF+ and Defenders of the People. ActionSA has said it was still reviewing its position on whether to continue being part of the coalition.
DA Tshwane spokesperson Kwena Moloto has accused ActionSA of having “sold out” Tshwane residents to the EFF and other parties. “The people of Tshwane and our coalition partners have been betrayed by an ostensibly power-hungry party who aims to put the capital city on the same track as the other metropolitan municipalities in Gauteng: Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg,” Moloto said.
Moloto said nothing about the DA having joined the ANC in the government of national unity, which ActionSA refused to be part of, opting instead to be on opposition benches to hold the executive accountable.
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