Who will now lead City of Tshwane as mayor?

The top leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) was expected to meet on Monday to decide on the mayoral candidate for the City of Tshwane.

In an interview with The Citizen on Monday, Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng chairperson Fred Nel said the ANC was expected to take a position on its preferred candidate for mayor at this meeting.

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“We know that the ANC has a meeting today [on Monday] to discuss the Tshwane issue. We will see what route of action they take after their meeting,” he said.

Will the ANC field a candidate in Tshwane?

According to Nel, the ANC is likely to field its own candidate when the council votes for a new mayor on Wednesday.

“What Mashaba has misread is the ANC’s internal policy that where they are the biggest party, their mayoral candidate will be put forward. They are not going to change their internal policy for ActionSA,” he said.

Despite not having enough numbers, Nel said the DA would be fielding Cilliers Brink as a mayoral candidate at Wednesday’s council meeting.

“At the moment we do not have the numbers. It depends on how other parties decide to vote on Wednesday,” Nel said.

Negotiations for positions

Meanwhile, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba told The Citizen on Monday that he preferred ActionSA’s Dr Nasiphi Moya to become the new mayor of Tshwane.

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It was not clear if Mashaba would receive the ANC’s support to ensure Moya’s election to the mayoral position.

However, he said negotiations for the mayor and deputy mayor positions were ongoing between ActionSA, the ANC and other political parties.

“We are still under discussions, but as we have said in the beginning, we have proposed Moya. However, we are still engaging with colleagues from other political parties. One thing is for sure: The mayor is not going to be Cilliers Brink,” Mashaba said.

Mashaba said once a government is put in place in the City of Tshwane, ActionSA would focus on getting its foot in the City of Ekurhuleni.

The City of Ekurhuleni is under the leadership of the ANC with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and other small parties as coalition partners.

“We have agreed that we should first be given a chance to deal with Johannesburg and Tshwane. Then we will see what we do with Ekurhuleni, but we are eyeing it as well,” he said.

The Citizen had contacted the ANC’s Gauteng spokesperson Lesego Makhubela for comment, but the party had not responded at the time this article was published.