EFF throws shade at DA for not being able to stand united against ANC

In a statement on Wednesday following the election of the ANC’s Geoff Makhubo as the new mayor of Johannesburg, the EFF slammed the DA for the fact that at least three of its councillors had betrayed them and voted with the ANC.

Party spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said they were saddened by the election of the “corrupt” Makhubo, and the fact that he’d been aided by the DA, which has been riven by divisions since the return of Helen Zille into the party’s leadership as the party’s federal executive chairperson. The DA was also torn by the adoption of a report that said the DA should stop working with the EFF, which former mayor Herman Mashaba was known for.

EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said on Wednesday that the ANC would renew the looting of state resources and reverse gains seen in the city such as the insourcing of workers 24-hour clinics, while reintroducing “neoliberal tenderpreneurship” and nepotism.

The DA’s Gauteng leader, John Moodey, also expressed concern about what had happened in the vote. In messaging following the outcome, the DA said: “Today Johannesburg has gone back into the hands of a corrupt ANC mayor, reversing progress made over the last three years. The DA will keep fighting for better services.”

Ndlozi paid tribute to the discipline of the EFF’s 30 councillors, who had all supported their candidate, Musa Novela.

The outcome of today’s vote throws into question a boast last week by the EFF’s deputy leader, Floyd Shivambu, that they would come to an agreement with the ANC to ensure that the EFF had a mayor in either Tshwane or Johannesburg.

“We will remain in the opposition benches,” said Ndlozi. “We are not scared of the DA-aided corrupt ANC.”

He said they would take the ANC on “toe to toe”.

(Compiled by Charles Cilliers)

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