‘I was not forced to resign’: ActionSA’s Tshwane caucus leader Abel Tau steps down

ActionSA, the new political kid on the block in Tshwane, has now lost it’s caucus leader Abel Tau, who tendered his resignation as the leader on Tuesday with immediate effect.

Tau, who was DA’s former regional leader, an MMC and acting executive mayor for the capital before quitting to join the green party, said he will however remain as councillor and current MMC for human settlements in the city.

ALSO READ: DA Tshwane chair Abel Tau joins Mashaba’s People’s Dialogue

But, according to a source who wished to remain anonymous, Tau was forced to resign as the party was unhappy with his support of the city’s adjustment budget. The source claimed that ActionSA refused to support the adjustment budget unless its changes were implemented. The party’s changes were rejected in council.

“His caucus is not happy with him. He did not follow instructions on the adjustment budget… and they voted it in anyway,” said the source.

Tau, however, denies these claims, stating that he fought for the things the party felt were important to be included in the adjustment budget, which is only applicable for three months.

“I was not forced to resign, trust me,” he said.

According to Tau, the reason he is stepping down as caucus leader is so he can focus on his work as MMC for human settlements and deal with the backlog in the department.

“I want to make sure I can deal with the current backlog that we have. If you look at the backlog of cleaning the house, it’s quite complex. Therefore, the cause was going to suffer. I proposed this to the party and I feel as a new party, we need someone who… can deal with party politics while I have to deal with the portfolio that is demanding and employ more people in the city that I would have loved to have.”

“I need to prioritise, otherwise I am not going to be good at anything. It’s time to take a few things off of me and allow other people to play a role… I am not leaving ActionSA. I am still an MMC and councillor for ActionSA. I am not going anywhere,” he told The Citizen.

According to Tau, party leader Herman Mashaba was not impressed with this move and felt Tau was being selfish.

“He felt that the project needs me and I convinced him I am not leaving the party. He wasn’t in favour of me leaving but I think he understands that I have the interests of the party at heart. I have his support now. I am committed to this party,” said Tau.

Speaking to The Citizen, Mashaba said Tau’s decision only made sense and he embraced it for the sake of the party.

“When we engaged him about this and how we should do it, he then suggested we let him step down because we wanted him to focus on this multi-party government. In our discussion with him, that is when he came with a suggestion to step down to get someone who doesn’t have the responsibility of running government,” said Mashaba.

“We like the idea of getting our MMCs to really focus, especially in Tshwane. In Tshwane, the majority of our councillors are new to politics. We are running a very complex coalition arrangement so we want our MMCs to focus on service delivery. For us, it’s a positive move. If anyone is going to look at this with suspicion, it has nothing to do [with that].”

ActionSA chairperson Michael Beaumont said the national leadership shared the sentiments that the party’s management of the coalition in Tshwane required someone’s full attention.

ALSO READ: Tshwane adjustment budget passed after DA-ActionSA impasse

Despite Tau claiming there were no issues regarding the adjustment budget, Beaumont said that the recent adjustment budget did not “adequately express ActionSA’s agenda” in the multi-party government.

“This will require full-time attention going forward.”

Meanwhile, former African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) MMC in Tshwane and now ActionSA member Derrick Kissoonduth was elected as the new caucus leader on Tuesday.

“We place on record our respect and appreciation for the leadership provided by… Abel Tau. We are confident that Councillor Kissoonduth will lead the caucus well and we wish him well in this important task,” said Beaumont.

rorisangk@citizen.co.za