EFF has no real intention to get rid of Msimanga – report
Many had earlier speculated that the EFF intentionally messed up its own attempt to table a motion of no confidence in the Tshwane mayor.
Tshwane Mayor Solly Msimanga at Tshwane City Chambers, 30 August 2018, during the sitting of the council. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
A report in the Sunday Times has revealed that an “EFF leader” has revealed the party never really had any intention of following through on its motion on no confidence against the DA’s Tshwane mayor, Solly Msimanga.
Speaking anonymously, he told the paper they had merely been reminding the DA that they were not governing without the support of other parties, but they had no intention of letting the ANC take over in the capital city.
The DA refused to support any candidate for mayor other than Msimanga, which was what the EFF was demanding.
The EFF leader was quoted as saying the EFF was “not in the business of removing that guy. If we wanted, we would have removed him.”
It’s also apparently unlikely that they will seriously support further attempts to boot the mayor. Msimanga, for his part, has remained very confident about his position.
The report adds to speculation that the EFF actually deliberately scuppered their own motion by submitting it improperly. It was subsequently disallowed in council. The EFF could then have supported the ANC’s motion against Msimanga, which was properly submitted, but chose to rather leave, claiming they would be heading to court.
It left many scratching at their heads in puzzlement after many analysts were convinced Msimanga had had no hope of survival.
However, the EFF leader said they couldn’t vote for an ANC mayor, as even ANC members were lobbying them not to support the ANC’s candidate, regional chairperson Kgoshi Maepa.
“How do you vote for a party which can’t get its own house in order?” the EFF top man said.
The Sunday Times article further reported that there was a group in the DA this week that wanted the party to withdraw from coalitions in the metro over concerns that it should not continue to govern if that meant relying on the support of the “racist” EFF.
Some senior DA leaders expressed reported concern that Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba is “too close” to the EFF.
However, DA leader Mmusi Maimane reportedly said there would be no withdrawal from the metros.
The EFF collaborated with other opposition parties, including the ANC, to remove Athol Trollip as the mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay, but refused to support an ANC candidate to replace him.
The UDM’s Mongameli Bobani took over, with the EFF once again declining any positions in his mayoral council. Bobani controversially agreed to give the ANC’s Andile Lungisa, convicted of assault and appealing his sentence, a top position – something EFF leader Julius Malema was quick to criticise.
The DA and its coalition partners have launched a legal case against the outcome of Monday’s no-confidence motion.
The only likely non-ANC candidate for mayor in Tshwane if the EFF were to remove the DA coalition that also includes the Freedom Front Plus, Cope and ACDP, would be a lone councillor from the PAC.
