In City of Joburg, the real deal was between the ANC and the PA

Arguments over ActionSA’s role in the ousting of Joburg’s Democratic Alliance (DA) mayor Dr Mpho Phalatse are a sideshow.

While it is true that ActionSA tried to have an Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) councillor as a candidate for the speaker position, this was not the reason for the governing coalition’s collapse. Despite the verbal aggression, ActionSA voted with the coalition at all important times.

The IFP-for-speaker ploy provided ActionSA and the Patriotic Alliance (PA) with ammunition to – unjustly in my view – describe the DA as arrogant for declining to accept the suggestion. However, the real deal was between the ANC and the PA.

In hindsight, it was a mistake to have Gayton McKenzie’s PA in the DA-led coalition, given their ties with the ANC. A coalition committed to removing the corrupt ANC from power should not have embraced one of their closest allies.

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In April, McKenzie threatened to pull out of all coalition deals with the DA. In Sunday night’s debate on Big Daddy Liberty’s YouTube show, PA representative Charles Cilliers said that if anyone doesn’t understand that the PA has an agreement with the ANC nationally, and is on good terms with the ANC, they do not understand what was happening. And the ANC had been “promising us the earth for months”. Geddit?

There is a longer history but PA president McKenzie and his deputy Kenny Kunene were linked to Jacob Zuma in a front-page report on a Sunday newspaper five years ago. They were called “Zuma’s pals” long before the ANC gave McKenzie the Beaufort West mayorship this year.

On 29 September, the PA’s Kunene thanked the ANC’s Paul Mashatile for facilitating the changes in Joburg. That indicates which ANC faction the PA is backing.

In the 270-seat Joburg Council, 136 votes are needed for a majority. The coalition would struggle to achieve that without the PA’s eight votes. Therefore, even though Phalatse’s ousting was illegal, it is unlikely a DA-led coalition will be returned to power in this term, which is scheduled to end in 2026. Unless the DA is prepared to compromise further.

Of course, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) could use its 29 votes against the ANC whenever it pleases. But the DA is unlikely to want to be dependent on the EFF, as Herman Mashaba was from 2016. Being out of power is no reason to despair. I’m not gloomy.

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In just over seven years as councillor I have served under seven mayors: Parks Tau, Mashaba, Geoff Makhubo, Jolidee Matongo, Mpho Moerane, Phalatse, and Dada Morero. There was also an acting mayor, Eunice Mgcina between Makhubo and Matongo.

This turnover rate is not conducive to smooth governance. Even at the best of times, getting things done in Johannesburg can be glacially slow. It becomes more so with changes in administration.

Yet ward councillors cannot waver in their commitment to serve residents to the best of their ability, no matter what the challenges. We get things done by building and sustaining constructive relationships with the many officials with whom we interact. Most officials do not change with each shift in political leadership. In dealing with them, we avoid party politics. We serve. That struggle continues.