Makhosi Khoza accuses ActionSA’s Mashaba of tarnishing her image

Dismissed ActionSA senior member Dr Makhosi Khoza has rejected allegations that she tried to topple party leader Herman Mashaba.

Last week, Khoza’s membership of ActionSA was terminated by the party’s senate after a disciplinary hearing into her conduct, following what the party called a “series of public outbursts” in January.

She was charged with bringing the party into disrepute and sowing divisions for allegedly colluding with ringleaders of a group of dismissed ActionSA members from Soweto, who were found to be plotting against Mashaba.

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However, Khoza on Tuesday questioned the credibility of the evidence ActionSA relied on to dismiss her, accusing Mashaba of tarnishing her name.

“I really, really feel sad that Mashaba would go to this extent to tarnish my name. I’m not that type [of person and] I’m not a power-hungry person,” Khoza said in an interview with Newzroom Afrika.

Khoza accused Mashaba of booting her out of ActionSA based on a WhatsApp message from one of his bodyguards that alleged she was planning to start her own political party.

“I really feel sad that Mashaba would actually take a WhatsApp message from somebody else and conclude that I was trying to topple him.

“I really think we might be dealing with some self-esteem issues here because honestly, I really don’t understand why he would think I was trying to topple him.”

‘Never outshine your leader’

Asked why she would think Mashaba was trying to tarnish her image, Khoza said Mashaba was threatened by her popularity among ActionSA members.

She said she noticed this during ActionSA’s rallies last year in September and October ahead of the municipal elections.

“There is this rule that says never outshine your leader… I could see that Mashaba was visibly disturbed by the fact that there were so many cheers when I came upon the stage and I started speaking,” she said.

ActionSA ‘controlled’ by DA

At the same time, Khoza claimed that the DA – which is in coalition with ActionSA in Gauteng’s metros – was pulling all the strings in the party’s back office.

Khoza said the DA’s leader in eThekwini Nicole Graham had written to ActionSA, putting pressure on the party to fire her.

“The reality of where we are setting now is that ActionSA is being directed by the DA of what to do and how to do it… Maybe ActionSA is the black-faced version of the DA given the fact that all the black faces that were prominent in the DA, who were in the front line, are gone,” she said.

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