‘Sabotage!’- Mashaba on ActionSA withdrawing motion against Joburg mayor Gwamanda

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has explained why his party has withdrawn a motion of no confidence in Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda, claiming sabotage.

The motion of no confidence in Gwamanda was meant to happen in a council meeting this week.

Mashaba told The Citizen his party took a decision to withdraw the motion due to a lack of support.

“The reason why we’ve decided to withdraw it is because the DA has come out with a very ridiculous, unsensational, irrational decision to sabotage our motion.

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“We put our motion six weeks before the multi-party charter was signed and precisely because the mayor is facing serious allegations of criminality. That motion was supposed to be served last month but the speaker refused it,” Mashaba said.

Speaking to The Citizen, DA Gauteng chairperson Fred Nel defended the party’s decision.

He said the Joburg Council has been “besieged” by at least four motions of no confidence since it was installed in 2021.

‘As the DA we believe this cycle of motions of no confidence will just continue to repeat itself going forward and it’s not sorting out the mess and instability within the Joburg Council.

“We believe the best solution at this stage is to dissolve the council, go to fresh elections and get a new mandate from the voters and hopefully a mandate that will reconstitute the council in a more manageable situation that can also bring about more manageable coalitions,” Nel said.

A letter or two

The DA, in a letter seen by The Citizen and dated last week, told Mashaba the motion was tabled without any consultation.

“Be that as it may, the DA wishes to put forward a progressive proposal that has the potential to finally bring an end to the instability in Johannesburg while also creating an opportunity for the opposition to demonstrate that we are growing and can win ahead of the crucial 2024 national and provincial election.

“At Thursday’s council meeting, the DA intends to move an amendment to the motion for the council to dissolve itself as soon as possible in order to hold fresh elections in Johannesburg within 90 days, the letter reads, asking for ActionSA’s support.

In a letter of response, Mashaba said claims of not being consulted on the motion were “objectively false”.

Mashaba said Action SA informed the DA before the Multi-Party Charter agreement about the motion of no confidence in Gwamanda.

“When we had that charter meeting we informed the DA about this and asked for their support in this regard and we informed John Steenhuisen we wanted to get the support of the PA.

“He said we could have the discussion with PA but this would be subject to him getting approval from his federal council, and he will get his Gauteng team to engage us,” Mashaba said.

Mashaba said a series of meetings between ActionSA, IFP, Freedom Front Plus and the PA failed to garner support from the DA to allow the motion against Gwamanda to succeed.

ActionSA said it would not leave the Charter over the debacle.

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