Former ANC mayor quits as Ekurhuleni councillor
• Mzwandile Masina avoids disciplinary hearing and possible suspension
Mzwandile Masina, Ekurhuleni ANC chair and former executive mayor, has resigned as councillor in the metro after he defied his party and pursued a controversial motion of no confidence in mayor Tania Campbell.
Masina’s resignation effectively avoids a disciplinary hearing and possible suspension as the party’s regional chair.
The DA’s Campbell was ousted as executive mayor on October 26 through an ANC-sponsored motion of no confidence. But after the ANC and the EFF could not reach an agreement on who the next mayor should be, Campbell was voted back in as mayor at a dramatic council meeting on November 8.
After Campbell’s re-election, Masina, who wanted his deputy Jongizizwe Dlabathi to become mayor, said the party accepted the outcome, but warned her victory would be short-lived as the ANC would continue devising means to topple her.
In a statement on Thursday, ANC Gauteng secretary Thembinkosi “TK” Nciza said the party’s provincial working committee (PWC) received a report from provincial party officials, who met Masina “regarding what transpired at the Ekurhuleni metropolitan council meeting earlier this month”.
“The officials provided a report that comrade Mzwandile Masina will offer a public apology to members of the ANC and also that he has voluntarily decided to resign as a councillor representing the ANC in the Ekurhuleni council,” said Nciza.
“The PWC wishes comrade Mzwandile well on his endeavours, and thanks him for leading one of the most stable, innovative and well-run municipalities for the past five years as a mayor. The City of Ekurhuleni, under the stewardship and exemplary leadership of comrade Mzwandile Masina and his collective, was a model for good governance.”
Masina’s resignation comes soon after he was charged by the ANC provincial executive committee (PEC) with bringing the party into disrepute.
That was after he went ahead with the motion of no confidence against Campbell, despite warnings from the PEC that it was still negotiating a deal with the EFF.
He is now expected to apologise to ANC members for destabilising coalition negotiations the party held with the EFF in its attempt to regain the Ekurhuleni council.
The motion against Campbell was viewed as premature as the PEC was still negotiating a deal with the EFF, the kingmakers in the metro, with 31 seats.
The fallout between the EFF and ANC became a PR nightmare for the governing party, and was viewed as having the potential to further erode ANC electoral support in the provincial and national elections in 2024, where its support is expected to fall below the 50% mark. Masina, who is widely associated with the radical economic transformation faction of the ANC, which supports former president Jacob Zuma, led the Ekurhuleni metro through a multiparty coalition from 2016 to 2019, when he lost the mayoral chain to Campbell.
In August 2021, Masina launched his book, Future Realities of Coalitions in South Africa: Reflections on Coalition Governments in the Metros: 2016-2021, saying the book’s key observations were that coalition governments “are a future reality in the country”.
At the time, he told Business Day: “We have reached a point of maturity now [that] we can form sustainable coalitions with the EFF. They understand the policies of the ANC. We could collaborate with them.”
But his defiance of his own party on the handling of the motion against Campbell suggests Masina failed to take his own advice. With the ANC to hold its national elective conference in December, Masina has received about 348 nominations to become the next treasurergeneral of the party.
He is up against party spokesperson Pule Mabe, who received 428 nominations, and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s adviser, Bejani Chauke, who received 552 nominations.
Masina could not be reached immediately for comment.
THE PWC WISHES COMRADE MZWANDILE WELL … AND THANKS HIM FOR LEADING ONE OF THE MOST STABLE … WELLRUN MUNICIPALITIES