By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Dr Nasiphi Moya has been elected executive mayor of Tshwane by fellow councillors on 9 October, beating the Democratic Alliance (DA) Cilliers Brink by 122 votes to 86.
Moya election comes after the African National Congress (ANC) reached a deal with ActionSA to elect her as the mayor.
Moya is an ActionSA councillor and was the deputy mayor of the metro under Brink.
However, ActionSA’s relationship with the DA soured and the party decided to cut ties and support the no confidence motion against Brink.
Moya’s election was supported by a coalition of the ANC, EFF and ActionSA, which collectively hold more than 110 seats in the 214-seat Tshwane council.
Early on Wednesday morning, the ANC announced that it would support an ActionSA mayor, honouring an agreement made between the two parties to form a coalition government in the metros, similar to the one in Johannesburg.
This arrangement led to Brink’s removal last month through a motion of no confidence proposed by the ANC. His departure followed the election of Dada Morero as mayor of Johannesburg, a move that marked the first collaboration between ActionSA and the ANC since the smaller party’s formation in 2020 under Herman Mashaba’s leadership.
“After extensive engagement on the calibre of the candidates and the tight timeframes, we have to sort out the problems; the ANC agreed to support the candidature of the current acting mayor, councillor Dr Nasiphi Moya,” the ANC said in a statement.
Moya was nominated for mayor by ANC Tshwane regional chair Eugene Modise.
Her nomination was supported by councillors from the EFF and Pan Africanist Congress, which called for “change” during the proceedings.
“To the residents of Tshwane, hear me clearly. It is not lost on me, the anxiety and the political instability that has plagued this city,” Moya said in her acceptance speech on Wednesday.
She vowed to bring stability to the city of Tshwane.
“To the residents of Soshonguve, Hammanskraal, Mamelodi, Centurion, Bronkhorstspruit, Ga-Rankuwa, Lynnwood, Kameeldrift, Waterkloof, Irene, Sokhulumi and everyone residing in between, I’m here to tell you that I am not an ActionSA mayor or a mayor from any other party for that matter,” she said.
The election of Moya took place despite DA federal chairperson Helen Zille giving the ANC an ultimatum to reinstate Brink or face a breakdown in the parties’ relationship at council level.