By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former City of Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse was removed as the city’s mayor on Friday following the swift election of Cope’s Colleen Makhubele as the new speaker and ActionSA on Monday refuted claims that it played a role in the collapse of the coalition agreement.
The ANC is back in government in Joburg, and the reality of this has sent political parties on a blaming spree.
Addressing the media on Monday, ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont said Phalatse pleaded with the Democratic Alliance (DA) leadership at the 11th hour to allow them to support an Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) Speaker when it became clear that the Patriotic Alliance (PA) would not support DA Speaker Alex Christians.
“This isn’t about positions, its about stability and when you have a coalition government that is run by one party and every other party is only there to provide support, you do not have a stable coalition,” said Beaumont.
He was flanked by ActionSA Gauteng chairperson Bongani Baloyi who praised Phalatse for the role she played in leading the coalition, saying he has also given her a call to check on her wellbeing.
“It is also important for us to indicate at this moment that there is no longer a coalition in the City of Johannesburg, all parties, ourselves included, and the DA are now individual parties and we note the process at the DA has started in so far as the litigation, them challenging it and they have not directly engaged us.
“We have accepted our new reality that we are opposition and we are going to be a formidable opposition, we are going to ensure that the budget that has been approved, that we have made inputs in is effected and we are going to hold the executive accountable,” Baloyi said.
Baloyi also said the DA acted as if it had won an election outright with its arrogance and unconcern about stabilising the future of the coalition.
“We are not there to help the DA govern. No one won. We need to make sure the coalition is stable,” Baloyi said.
He said the city of concern for ActionSA was Ekurhuleni, where the DA leads a minority coalition.
The ANC and EFF have enough numbers to form a new government in Ekurhuleni if the two decided to make similar moves in Joburg, Baloyi said.