By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
ActionSA has pulled out of the coalition in the City of Ekurhuleni after accusing the recently re-elected mayor of avoiding visiting townships.
The decision means the party’s councillors won’t form part of the mayoral committee that Ekurhuleni Mayor Tania Campbell is scheduled to announce soon.
ActionSA president Herman Mashaba has long decried the instability of the minority government in Ekurhuleni.
The DA and its coalition partners do not have enough seats to form a majority government in the Gauteng metro.
The fragility of the governance pact was most evident when Campbell was ousted in a motion of no confidence last month.
However, she was re-elected as mayor last week with the support of the EFF. Her return was only the result of the failure of the ANC and EFF to broker a coalition deal.
ActionSA doesn’t believe that it can form part of another unstable government in Ekurhuleni, which it says won’t be able to fend off motions of no confidence from the ANC.
Instead, the party will take on an opposition role and ensure the DA coalition delivers services to residents, Beaumont said at a briefing on Monday.
Beaumont said the party would “continue voting with the DA to block the return of the ANC”, on council decisions, but negotiations would “be treated on a case-by-case basis”.
Beaumont said ActionSA has resolved not to take up positions in the reconstituted mayoral committee being renegotiated by the multi-party coalition.
“We believe that we need to fight for better service delivery for all the residents of Ekurhuleni. This requires us to give up executive positions and ensure we can fight unencumbered by positions that co-opt our support.
“Going forward, ActionSA will form part of a voting bloc that will work to keep the ANC out of this metro by defeating motions of no confidence and working to pass decisions that serve the service delivery needs of the residents of Ekurhuleni.
“We remain unequivocal in our commitment to keeping the ANC out of this and all other governments, but we cannot be complicit in failed service delivery,” said Beaumont.