Masina sure of surviving motion
Coalition partners stand by ANC mayor
Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina will enter today’s council meeting, which will debate a motion of no confidence against him, emboldened after his coalition partners reassured him of their support. The ANC and its coalition partners in Ekurhuleni, the AIC, PAC, Patriotic Alliance and the Independent Rate Payers Association of SA (Irasa), put up a united front behind Masina at a media briefing yesterday.
They detailed some of their successes in the coalition with the ANC which helped the governing party retain the metro after failing to get an outright majority in the 2016 local government elections.
The DA is attempting to cut Masina’s mayoral tenure short, accusing him of corruption and poor service delivery, especially in poor areas.
DA leader in Ekurhuleni Phillip de Lange said the motion had been tabled because under Masina’s watch service delivery had collapsed and unemployment was escalating in the region.
“We must get back to delivering better services to the people of the City… we will have that opportunity [after ousting Masina] to put the people first and as the DA, we will be doing just that.”
For the motion to succeed, the DA needs some among the ANC’s coalition to vote in support of it.
Irasa’s Izak Berg told Sowetan yesterday it made no sense for a party with 34% of the vote, the DA, to be given the metro when there’s a party with 48% of the vote, the ANC. “I am in this coalition for stability in Ekurhuleni, and to ensure that we pass budgets, take decisions and get the metro to work,” he said.
Berg accused the DA of hoping to score political points. “The DA has tabled this no confidence because of its own mistakes
We need to pass budgets and get the metro to work
in other coalition governments in other parts of the country.
“I don’t agree with the mayor all the time, he’s young and very radical but it doesn’t mean we can’t be in a coalition. Coalitions are all about not being arrogant, ours is built around stability.” Asked about its position on the motion, the EFF’s Mampuru Mampuru said: “All will be revealed in the council meeting.”