EFF to field own candidate in Joburg mayor race, ‘not talking to DA, ANC’

The EFF has thrown its hat in the ring in the build-up to what is expected to be a hotly contested election for the Johannesburg mayoral position.

Its leader, Julius Malema, said the party would field its own candidate to replace outgoing DA mayor Herman Mashaba.

Mashaba, who resigned from the position after the election of Helen Zille as the DA’s federal council chairperson, will vacate the office on November 27.

The two big parties inside the council – the ANC with 104 seats and DA with 121 – have been in talks with smaller parties to clinch support for Mashaba’s replacement.

The EFF, which has maintained its king-maker position, has 30 seats.

The DA – which has lost some credibility with the resignation of Mashaba and former leader Mmusi Maimane – announced its own candidate, Finance MMC Funzela Ngobeni.

With the loss of Mashaba and the EFF, its biggest voting partner in Johannesburg, the DA may lose its hold in the city.

During a media briefing on Thursday, Malema said the party would wait on the DA and ANC to woo them.

“We are not talking to anyone in Johannesburg. We are going to field our own candidate. We supported the DA and it’s now its turn to support the EFF. It’s only fair,” he added during a media briefing at Nasrec ahead of his party’s elective conference next month.

“Why should we only support the white man. Instead of asking us ‘are you going to support the DA’, why are you now asking if the DA will support the EFF. We are also not talking to the ANC, if the ANC wants to come on board, it must come on board to support the EFF. We are going to contest and we call upon the DA and ANC to support our candidate.”

Malema said the EFF would also consider a trade-off in Tshwane.

If no party has a clear winner, the metro may go into fresh elections or find itself under administration.

Last month, the Gauteng provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs again threatened to place the City of Johannesburg under administration if it fails to hold a council meeting.

Cooperative Governance MEC Lebohang Maile said the department was closely monitoring the evolving situation in the City, adding Section 18(2) of the Municipal Structures Act compelled a municipal council to meet at least quarterly and metropolitan municipalities to meet on a monthly basis at special council meetings.

Meanwhile, News24 reported the ANC had elected senior IFP leader Mkhuleko Hlengwa as the chairperson of parliament’s standing committee on public accounts.

The ANC has also backed Gauteng IFP leader Bonginkosi Dlamini as the premier’s oversight committee chairperson in the Gauteng legislature, indicating its support for the party.

The IFP, with five seats, will vote with the ANC on condition that it supports the smaller KwaZulu-Natal-based party in the AbaQulusi and Jozini municipalities in its home province.

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