Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink is set to see another day in office as the latest motion of no confidence was withdrawn on August 29.
A petition opposing attempts to break up the governing coalition garnered just shy of 30 000 signatures before the motion was withdrawn.
The petition was to raise support for Brink following news that the ANC and ActionSA were in talks to have the mayor removed from office.
ActionSA had been in coalition with the DA, however, matters seemingly took a turn for the worse between the two parties.
“We have ensured that a motion of no confidence in our city government won’t serve this week,” said Brink.
“This is a significant win for the DA and our partners. It averts serious political instability in the short term.”
Brink noted that coalition partners ActionSA had effectively announced its exit from the coalition.
He said that he saw the move as a betrayal.
“Without any formal notice, their caucus leader in Tshwane today told the media that they are withdrawing.
“Although this statement was later contradicted by other ActionSA leaders, the withdrawal notice is in line with statements made by ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba in the past few weeks.”
Brink said that the existing mayoral committee would remain in place in the meantime.
“We will do everything in our power to continue the mission of building a capital city that works for all its people,” he said.
Ahead of a council meeting on Thursday, the DA filed an urgent application before the Gauteng North High Court, to stop a motion of no confidence.
On Wednesday, ActionSA Gauteng provincial chairperson Funzi Ngobeni issued a statement saying that the party was reviewing its position within the multi-party coalition.
This after it declined an invitation to a press conference from the Coalition Management Committee on the status of the coalition.
An agreement was reached between the DA, ActionSA, FF+, ACDP, IFP and COPE on December 15, 2021.
The agreement included strategic priorities on insourcing, inner-city rejuvenation and immigration.
“ActionSA has observed a deliberate campaign by the DA that we believe to be disingenuous and an insult to the co-operative and respectful engagement that must underpin any coalition agreement,” said Ngobeni.
“In response, we will not engage with or support this juvenile approach and will instead demonstrate the necessary maturity by formally engaging within the coalition framework.”
ActionSA has since accused the DA of a deliberate effort to falsely accuse them of “treachery, dishonesty and hypocrisy”, which they said the DA was themselves guilty of.
“In respect of the co-ordinated attacks from the DA, who mistakenly behave as if we are a subsidiary of their dishonest enterprise, ActionSA wishes to affirm that we will forge ahead with our review of our working relationship within the Tshwane coalition over the next two weeks. We will formally pronounce on the outcomes at the conclusion of our internal processes,” party leader, Herman Mashaba said in a statement on Friday.
However, MMC for Community Safety, Grandi Theunussen (FF+) said in a media briefing that the coalition was unaware of ActionSA’s stance since August 23.
“What we know is what you know, we read it in the national press,” he said.
“We are not aware of any complaint, nobody has come forth.”
He said nothing was mentioned at the last coalition meeting on Friday, August 23.
“So if there is reason for ActionSA to withdraw, I call upon them to come forth and use our dispute resolution mechanism.”
In a statement on Wednesday, the coalition partners, noticeably not including ActionSA, said that the city could not afford to experience the kind of chaos and instability that it said characterised the City of Johannesburg.
Joint caucus chair and finance MMC Jacqui Uys said however that the remaining coalition was fully committed to carrying on building a city that works for all its people.
She said the coalition had made significant progress over the past 17 months.
Uys detailed several achievements that the coalition had made. These include tough performance standards for service providers, implementing plans to get clean water in the taps of Hammanskraal residents, completing the Townlands Social Housing project, improving audit outcomes and improving service delivery.
“This progress has been achieved through the contributions of each party in the coalition and the hard work of members in the mayoral committee giving clear guidance to the city administration on issues of policy and integrity,” she said.
“And a lot of what has been achieved can still be undone through political instability.”
Uys said that it was in the best interest of the residents that the coalition be maintained.
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