ANC’s plan to take back Joburg

The Democratic Alliance could lose Johannesburg to the ANC if the EFF decides to boycott the vote on the motion of no confidence tabled in the city council.

The ANC is intent on ousting mayor Herman Mashaba and speaker Vasco da Gama and taking back control of the municipality.

The opposition ANC tabled the motion against Mashaba on Wednesday, citing the city’s financial crisis, and against Da Gama for allegedly failing to hold the executive accountable for the city’s woes.

Of the 270 council seats, the ANC has 124, the DA 104, EFF 30, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) 4, the African Independent Congress (AIC) 4 and the United Democratic Movement (UDM), Congress of the People (Cope), African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and Patriotic Alliance (PA) one each.

The AIC and PA usually vote with the ANC while the EFF and other small parties often side with the DA, giving it the majority.

This week, Mashaba dismissed the ANC-sponsored motion as a “smokescreen” for an attempt by the party to wrest power from the DA in order to continue looting state resources.

He defended the city’s financial state of affairs and cited numerous instances of service delivery in the DA-run metro.

The ANC appears to have put forward the motion to take advantage of the current enmity between the DA and its main ally, EFF, in the ruling coalition.

The ANC is hoping to secure the EFF’s support to oust Mashaba and Da Gama from their seats and take over the council.

If the EFF stays away during the tabling of the motion, which is likely to be on September 29, it will be giving the council to the ANC on a platter. The boycott would allow the ANC to achieve a simple majority of 50% plus one.

Previously, the EFF opposed the candidacy of Mashaba as mayor. A compromise was reached but the EFF promised to pull out of the coalition if they deemed it necessary.

Yesterday, Da Gama conceded it was possible they could be removed if the EFF stayed away or abstained from voting.

The EFF is believed to want to punish the DA for ousting Nelson Mandela Bay deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani of the UDM, and for undermining opposition parties by tabling a motion to have parliament dissolved without consulting them.

Da Gama blamed the financial situation on the ANC, especially former member of the mayoral committee for finance Geoffrey Makhubo and former mayor Parks Tau, who Da Gama said knew about corruption but swept it under the carpet.

“They should be going to jail,” he said.

Analyst Steven Friedman said there was neither a coalition nor a cooperation arrangement between the DA and EFF in Joburg, but a minority government. If the majority of councillors no longer wanted the government, it would go. – ericn@citizen.co.za