The ANC in Ekurhuleni has rallied behind embattled executive mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza following his controversial decision to reshuffle the cabinet on Tuesday night, when the EFF’s presence in the mayoral committee was cut down.
ANC Ekurhuleni regional secretary and finance MMC Jongizizwe Dlabathi said the party was firmly behind the mayor. He said there was no crisis in the city and the reshuffle was aimed at improving and stabilising the city’s governance and administration and accelerating service delivery.
“The city is functioning. The mayoral committee met on Thursday,” Dlabathi said. The reshuffle was mired in controversy after the EFF and ActionSA rejected invitations to join the mayoral committee, in a move analysts said cracks open the door to new coalition instability and further destabilises governance in the metro ahead of municipal elections later this year.
The reshuffle saw Xhakaza’s ANC comrades taking up five crucial positions, including finance, utility services, and roads and transport, while diminishing the EFF’s presence in his cabinet from five portfolios to two.
The Ekurhuleni council has 224 seats, with the ANC holding 86, the DA 65, EFF 31, ActionSA 15, Freedom Front Plus 8, IFP 2, ACDP 2 and other smaller parties jointly holding 10 seats.
While the ANC leads with 86 seats, it still falls short of the requisite 113 to govern alone. The present coalition is made up of the ANC, EFF, ActionSA and PA, totalling 136 seats.
Control of the Ekurhuleni metro has changed hands from coalitions led by the ANC to the DA, AIC and back to the ANC since 2016 due to what has been attributed to the instability of coalitions.
Dlabathi said the party was not worried about a motion of no confidence against Xhakaza. “They can bring it on as the EFF. We are committed to stability. They don’t have capacity at this time to advance a motion of confidence against the mayor. It will be defeated, in our view,” said Dlabathi, who accused the EFF of having presided over the city’s financial instability.
There has been growing tension between Xhakaza and the EFF. In June 2024, the executive mayor fired EFF Gauteng chair Nkululeko Dunga as finance MMC, replacing him with Dlabathi, who retained his position during the reshuffle on Tuesday evening.
The EFF was also unhappy when the ANC successfully fielded its councillor Dora Mlambo when the EFF’s Nthabiseng Tshivhenga resigned as speaker in December 2025. The EFF believed it was entitled to reclaim the position.
EFF leader Julius Malema has accused Xhakaza of going rogue and trying to push the EFF out of the metro, saying the red berets will reconsider its support for the ANC in Gauteng, in which premier Panyaza Lesufi governs through a minority government reliant on the EFF support, among other parties.
DA Ekurhuleni metro caucus leader Brandon Pretorius said his party would not be dragged into a political bunfight between the ANC and EFF. “Our priority is the residents of Ekurhuleni who for far too long have suffered the collapse of service delivery at the hands of those who seek power at all costs,” Pretorius said.
“If a motion of no-confidence is brought against the mayor, our decision to support or not support it will be informed by whether it is in the best interests of residents,” he said.
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