Mashaba gets nod despite EFF doubts
THE DA’s Herman Mashaba is set to be Johannesburg’s new mayor after the party insisted he remain its candidate — despite objections by its partner the EFF and from within its own ranks.
Mashaba is due to be elected at the inaugural sitting of the Johannesburg metro council scheduled for tomorrow, replacing ANC mayor Parks Tau.
DA federal council chairman James Selfe, who was part of the team that negotiated a partnership deal with the EFF, confirmed Mashaba’s mayoral candidacy on Friday. “We discussed it and agreed much is at stake in Johannesburg, where there will have to be very close political management. The EFF has agreed that the Mashaba issue is not a deal-breaker, so he will be mayor.”
EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said the party would vote for Mashaba despite its misgivings.
Some sources have claimed that Selfe and Mmusi Maimane clashed on Mashaba, with the party leader insisting on his candidature because he had selected him, while Selfe had been prepared to ditch Mashaba if it meant closing the deal with the EFF.
But Selfe denied there had been a difference of opinion.
Ndlozi said Maimane had insisted on Mashaba during the negotiations. “Maimane failed to understand that these were negotiations — it was give and take. The issue of Herman Mashaba is an example.”
The DA, the EFF and other smaller parties struck a deal after the August 3 elections to try and squeeze the ANC out of power in 27 hung municipalities, including Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay.
DA and EFF officials said existing co-operation among opposition parties in parliament had made it easy to reach the deal.
“We chose to support the DA candidates in an effort to create an opposition voting bloc. In this regard, our experience of the success of opposition voting blocs in parliament was central,” said Ndlozi.
Selfe said the DA, which had trained 150 people before the election to help run municipalities the party gained, was aware of concerns that it did not have the capacity to run all the municipalities it had so unexpectedly gained.
“We will . . . use assistance from people who have gained experience in the councils we have governed before,” he said.
“We will also send officials for Salga and National Treasury training. We will monitor these municipalities very closely.” Salga is the South African Local Government Association.