ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has announced the end of its marriage of convenience with the DA in Tshwane.
Mashaba announced this over the weekend at the party’s Gauteng Provincial Imbizo held at Saulsville Arena in Tshwane.
“The Senate sat for the whole day on Saturday and made a very decisive decision, and that decision is that we should cut ties with the coalition in Tshwane,” he said.
Mashaba said his organisation was an independent political party adding that no one would dictate for it.
“We are a party that believe in God, and when you believe in God, one has to make sure we make the right decision regarding people.”
ActionSA’s leader told scores of party supporters that one of the reasons why the party performed poorly was due to its alliance with the Multi-Party Charter.
“I can tell you without any shadow of doubt, one of the contributing factor to our performance was our association with the so called Multi-Party Charter. Something that I know that most of you were against.
“Our partners in the coalition agreement took advantage of this, exploited us, used us. I am glad to announce to that we took a decision that ActionSA in Tshwane is no longer part of this multi-party movement,” Mashaba revealed.
He pleaded with party supporters to give the leadership time in order to persuade other political parties to join hands and form government in the City of Tshwane.
Mashaba tipped that his councillors would vote in favour of the vote of no confidence again the DA mayor.
A motion of no confidence in incumbent Mayor Cilliers Brink is set to be tabled on September 26.
Mashaba said his party has been in a toxic relationship with the DA, adding that ActionSA has been raising concerns about it for some time.
He made reference to the the 15-hour Council meeting on February 14, last week which “culminated in the DA members in the Council chambers deliberately spoiling their votes when they were supposed to vote for ActionSA candidate as Speaker of Council, which resulted in ActionSA losing the vote for the Speaker of Tshwane to a candidate proposed by the ANC/ EFF alliance.”
Gauteng provincial chairperson Funzi Ngubeni said it was a privilege to reaffirm ActionSA’s position which it has always spoken of.
“We are here to fix South Africa. To achieve this, we need to start with our Municipalities, we need to ensure that our municipalities are functional to provide efficient and effective service delivery to its residents.
“The political developments in Tshwane are a significant reminder to all of us that, ActionSA was for the people and that it is a sober and rational political party with its own constitution and mandate. We will never cower to stand up for what is right and stand for residents in any given circumstance,” Ngubeni said.
He said Gauteng residents have been disappointed for a long time by instability and a lack of leadership in the municipalities.
“ActionSA is standing up to be a voice for the residents of the province and to ignite an ERA of competency in public administration.”
The Star
sipho.jack@inl.co.za