The executive mayor of Ekurhuleni has retracted a tweet in which he dared the ANC to remove him as mayor of the City of Ekurhuleni.
According to Sonnyboy Masingi, ANC regional spokesperson, a special regional executive committee (REC) meeting was convened with the intention to establish the circumstances under which the transgression occurred, as well as the context of Masina’s Twitter posts.
Masina, who is also the regional chairman, found himself in hot water following a tweet in which he supported EFF leader Julius Malema’s call to let the white economy collapse.
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Masina tweeted a newspaper article headlined “Let the white economy collapse, says Malema”, adding to it: “I fully agree with my friend on this one @Julius_S_Malema. Until we nationalise all commanding heights of the economy we need to restart this economy and make sure it favours the majority. This can’t be sane again”.
Shortly after the national ANC published its statement, Masina again took to Twitter to state he was ready to stand down for his radical views. He went as far as daring the ANC to remove him as mayor for his views on nationalisation.
“I fear nothing if I’m isolated for radical views,” he said.
In the regional statement issued on Wednesday last week, Masingi said the REC accepted the presentation from Masina and appreciated the context of the social media post as explained by Masina.
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The REC also noted that ANC leaders must at all times adhere to the policy prescripts of the ANC as it relates to social media conduct.
“It expressed a firm view that discussions on economic policies or any other policy content must be articulated in line with ANC policy positions, principles and constitutional prescripts,” said Masingi.
According to Masingi, ANC leaders must at all times strive to protect the identity of the ANC from being diluted. In this regard, any perspective or idea that supports the collapse of the economy is not a policy position of the ANC.
Masina temporarily deactivated his twitter account following these tweets. When activated again, some posts had been deleted.
“The REC appreciates the retraction of the entire post that signalled the intention to resign,” said Masingi.
In an earlier statement, ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe said Masina’s post fell outside the confines of the party’s policy position.
“While the views were expressed on a personal account, it stands to confuse our constituency and members as to what the ANC stands for. It is expected of ANC leaders to act with care and be cautious at all times on matters of policy,” said Mabe.
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The DA in Ekurhuleni has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to take action against Masina and called for his removal for breaking his oath of office. This is according to Ald Phillip de Lange, the DA leader in Ekurhuleni.
“Masina, as the mayor of Ekurhuleni, must serve all the City’s residents and not a select few. He is supposed to create unity and peace as set out in our Constitution. “However, he continues to sow division in the country based on racial lines and undermine the president’s vision of one united South Africa standing together as one family,” said De Lange.
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