The DA and ActionSA in the City of Johannesburg have distanced themselves from the mayoral drama, with the two parties vowing to blue tick a no confidence motion.
Mayor Dada Morero is facing a council bid to oust him from his position after a motion sponsored by coalition partner Al Jama-ah seeking to axe him.
However, opposition parties in council have announced they want no part in the conflict between partners in the local government of unity coalition.
DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga revealed they have “reliably learnt” of a plot by the EFF to attempt to use the party as a pawn in its escalating conflict with the ANC.
“With less than a year to go before the local government elections, the DA is not interested in continuing with the game of ‘musical chairs’ in mayoral offices. We also have no interest in becoming involved, in any way, in any other political party’s internal factional battles.”
Msimanga said ANC-led coalitions across Gauteng are crumbling, and the party will not get involved in the collapse.
“The growing conflict between the EFF and the ANC, specifically in Ekurhuleni, but also in other coalitions with other partners such as ActionSA, has culminated in an EFF threat to bring the ANC down through motions of no confidence wherever they co-govern.”
The Gauteng DA leader said his party has been burnt in the past after mayoral turbulence, with parties fielding no confidence motions with no fresh governance plan.
“The DA in Gauteng wants to make it clear we will not be used as pawns in the ANC-EFF-ActionSA power plays. The DA has learnt a bitter lesson from the past, that where we rely on other parties who aren’t sincere in dealing with issues of governance and delivery for our citizens, but purely on political power plays, we’d continue to have these unstable governments that lead to very little progress in terms of delivering to the people.”
The party conceded the circumstances would not enable it to offer good, clean governance.
“The DA is open to honest conversations about the way forward in municipalities and what is best for the residents. Our focus is solely on representing our voters, and becoming the biggest party in all metros in the upcoming elections.
ActionSA Johannesburg caucus Leader Marcel Coutriers echoed the DA’s sentiments, announcing his party plans to abstain from the no confidence motion despite Morero’s administration having been “objectively disastrous”.
“There is no clear or credible alternative plan for better government being presented and this motion risks becoming yet another round of musical chairs in the mayoralty, with no tangible benefit for residents.”
Given the severity of the governance and service delivery crisis in Johannesburg, this fundamental issue cannot be reduced to who occupies the mayoralty
— ActionSA Johannesburg caucus Leader Marcel Coutriers
The party revealed there was a last-minute bid to lobby it to get on board, but it shut the door on requests for support in axing Morero.
“We are particularly disturbed by last-minute late-night phone calls soliciting our votes from parties that have made no prior effort to engage with us and have no clear governing plan for an alternative government. No effort was made to hold such engagements when the motion was first submitted and these same parties fell over themselves to assist the ANC in removing ActionSA from the position of speaker, in which the party was holding the failing government to account.”
The ActionSA Joburg caucus leader criticised how the motion has not been thoroughly prepared and deliberated on.
“It is simply unreasonable to expect support for removing a mayor while being completely unable to answer the most basic question of what comes next.
“Given the severity of the governance and service delivery crisis in Johannesburg, this fundamental issue cannot be reduced to who occupies the mayoralty. It must centre on a concrete programme of action that can reverse the collapse in service delivery and ensure residents are front and centre.”
Coutriers said power play theatrics are something ActionSA wants no part in.
“We believe residents deserve better than these never-ending theatrics, and we stand ready to support any well-thought-through plan backed by a credible turnaround strategy to fix Johannesburg and protect the best interests of residents. It does increasingly look like only an election that takes power from parties that have failed Joburg, and hands it to those with a record of fixing it, is going to get our city on the right track again.”
He said his party is fully prepared to participate in constructive efforts genuinely committed to reversing the decline in governance and service delivery.
“Until ActionSA is satisfied the interests of residents are principally at the heart of any such requests for our support, we will not entertain political manoeuvring by parties in a coalition that appears incapable of working together.”
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