Gauteng coalitions: ActionSA accused of trying to bring in EFF

Coalition partners at Gauteng metros have accused ActionSA of advocating for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to be part of the multi-party governments despite an agreement to exclude the party.

The DA, ActionSA, Freedom Front Plus, ACDP, IFP and Cope are in a coalition in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni. The parties formed councils after last year’s local government polls that produced no outright winner in the metros.

On Monday, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said his party was worried about the state of the coalition in Ekurhuleni, saying the metro could return to the ANC unless a compromise was made. The party believes that a motion-of-no-confidence could surface unless the DA-led coalition works with the EFF.

According to Mashaba and party chairperson Michael Beaumont, DA chairperson Helen Zille asked ActionSA to negotiate with the EFF on their behalf and get them to vote with the coalition partners in councils, despite the DA having vowed to never work with the EFF or the ANC.

This drew an angry response from Zille, who accused the two of “distorting facts”.

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The coalition parties accused Mashaba and his party of tirelessly attempting to bring the EFF into the Gauteng governments from the moment coalition negotiations started.

“All other parties have stringently rejected these attempts. Just over a week ago, ActionSA declared a dispute on the matter, and its leader, Herman Mashaba, gave the Coalition Oversight Group 48 hours to meet to resolve the dispute, thus invoking the coalition’s dispute resolution mechanism,” the parties said in a statement.

The parties added that leaders attended the coalition oversight group meeting, except Mashaba who was absent. The meeting reiterated that “under no circumstances would the EFF be brought into Gauteng coalitions”.

“Despite this agreement, and without taking the coalition partners into its confidence, ActionSA convened a media conference [on Monday] morning.”

The parties denied that the DA approached ActionSA to facilitate an agreement with EFF.

“The DA merely asked ActionSA, given their good relations with the EFF, to establish how the EFF intended voting in the election of committee chairpersons in Johannesburg.

“It was stated clearly then, and has been repeated several times, that this did not imply that the coalition was prepared to bring the EFF into our governing arrangements in any way whatsoever.”

Although they recognised that there were different coalition configurations in other provinces, involving other parties including the EFF, the partners understood that there were different dynamics in different provinces.

“We respect their right to function in terms of their own arrangements and we require the same respect to be accorded to the Gauteng coalitions.

“The coalition calls on ActionSA to abide by the decisions of the Coalition Oversight Group and the other parties in the coalition, and help us get down to the business of delivering services in Gauteng municipalities,” they said.

Mashaba resigned as Joburg councillor last week, and was replaced by Soweto councillor Kabelo Moatshe.

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