Msimanga says DA will go back to the ANC cap in hand about Brink

DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga says his party is willing to seek assistance from the ANC to re-elect Cilliers Brink as the mayor of Tshwane.

Msimanga briefed the media on Friday after Brink’s removal on Thursday.

“We will still attempt to reach out to them [the ANC] at a provincial level to see if we are able to find each other,” he said.

No deal between ActionSA and ANC

The ANC had managed to remove Brink with the help of ActionSA.

However, Msimanga said he was certain that there is no final deal between ActionSA and the ANC.

He added that there were disagreements between ActionSA and the ANC about who would occupy the mayoral position.

ALSO READ:Ousting of Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink raises questions

“That says there is no agreement,” Msimanga said.

He confirmed that the DA had appealed to the ANC to withdraw the motion of no confidence against Brink, but the request was declined.

Msimanga: ANC chair in cozy EFF deal

Msimanga accused the chairperson of the ANC in Gauteng of having informal agreements with the EFF to keep them in municipalities.

The EFF in return would support the minority government in Gauteng.

“Panyaza [Lesufi] is pushing against what was agreed on at a national level. He is pushing against what the local structures of the ANC want to achieve here,” he said.

Msimanga said it was in the best interest of the ANC to negotiate with the DA because the ANC had also initiated discussions about other municipalities around the country.

“In eThekwini they want to run the municipality and they need our assistance. They are now talking to us about what is happening in Nelson Mandela Bay and mentioned a number of municipalities in the North West,” he said.

Msimanga denied that the DA was in secret negotiations to remove ActionSA from the City of Tshwane.

“They walked away from us, not the other way around,” he said.

‘The ANC has no plan’

Speaking at the same press conference, Brink said the ANC had been requested to withdraw the motion of no confidence so that the future of the city could be discussed.

“The ANC had an opportunity to withdraw the motion of no confidence. It would not have amounted to a coalition agreement or a stability pact. However, it could have given us time in a calm and reflective mode to consider the future,” he said.

Brink said he was disappointed by the ANC’s actions.

“According to their provincial secretary there is no plan. So, you bring down a government and what now? That kind of thing must end,” he said.

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In a statement on Thursday evening the ANC said the DA had neglected poor areas in the City of Tshwane.

They accused the party of only servicing their constituencies in the suburbs.

“The removal of racist Cilliers Brink, who undermined and ill-treated the workers of the City, marks the beginning of the restrengthening of the City of Tshwane and the Gauteng province broadly,” the party said.