DA dishes dirt on Mashaba

The Democratic Alliance (DA) fired a shot across the bows yesterday when it hauled out four-year-old dirt on ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba.

A statement by Thomas Walters, DA deputy federal council chair, accuses Mashaba and other former DA members of cozying up to the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) during his tenure as the DA’s mayor of Joburg.

“The DA has made it abundantly clear that it will not enter into a coalition or governing agreement with the EFF in any municipality,” said Walters.

The allegations levelled against Mashaba circle back to a party decision to cooperate with the EFF in Joburg, an arrangement that saw the DA candidate hold the mayoral office after the 2016 municipal elections.

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Walters and party leader John Steenhuisen, then chief whip under Mmusi Maimane, were members of the federal decision-making body in that instance, with Mashaba, as mayor, tasked to implement the terms of the relationship.

The DA now accuses the ActionSA leader of lobbying for the EFF in his time as mayor.

“He used his position as Joburg mayor to lobby for the EFF to be given the mayorship of Metsimaholo [local municipality].

“He proposed giving away a municipality to the red berets to manage in exchange for support somewhere else,” Walters said.

“It must be noted here that the DA did not bend to his will and eventually he left.”

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Mashaba laughed off the accusations when called by Saturday Citizen and conveyed his thanks to the DA for the free publicity.

“Their statement isn’t even worth a response,” Mashaba said.

“I would rather focus on being out on the streets with the voters right now than engaging in this.

“To launch such an attack a couple of days before the election simply tells me that they are worried.”