Mayor Cilliers Brink during a media briefing on 30 August 2023 in Pretoria. (Photo: Gallo Images / Beeld / Deaan Vivier) 
In two weeks’ time, Tshwane is likely to have a new executive mayor, as the ANC will table a motion of no-confidence against the incumbent Cilliers Brink. It will be supported by ActionSA, EFF, ACDP and COPE, who account for the majority of the seats in council.
The motion was initially expected to be voted on during Friday, 30 August, but had since been temporarily withdrawn. Brink had approached the North High Court to challenge the legality of the motion, citing procedural irregularities.
Speaking about the reasons for temporary withdrawal, Tshwane ANC regional secretary George Matjila said it was to finalise internal issues, having secured the support of the majority of the parties.
“We have agreed in principle to temporarily withdraw the motion so that we deal with the internal issues that are creating an impediment for all of us. But rest assured, we will bring it back within 14 days, for sure,” he said.
The legal challenge by Brink was “besides the point” as “the legal issues that are being raised by Cilliers cannot stand the law”, he told Daily Maverick.
The multiparty coalition government in Tshwane has clearly collapsed, as ActionSA’s regional chairperson Jackie Mathabathe confirmed they would vote to oust Brink.
DA and ActionSA in public spat
The DA and ActionSA are now engaged in a public spat over the status of their relationship.
The end of the DA-ActionSA partnership will have significant implications, leading to a complete overhaul of Tshwane’s government. The new administration will be formed by the ANC, EFF, ActionSA, ACDP and COPE.
On Thursday, the DA in Tshwane said it had become evident that ActionSA had bowed out of the coalition agreement, a move which it characterised as “selling out” of Tshwane’s residents to the EFF and other parties.
DA spokesperson Kwena Moloto said: “While the City of Tshwane’s performance has been consistently improving, this attack on the bedrock of a well-performing government threatens to halt all the progress that has been made to rescue the capital city from decay.”
Moloto further accused ActionSA of refusing to participate in constructive discussions with the Executive Mayor Cilliers Brink, and their failure to register their now evident frustration with the coalition government’s partners.
Brink had echoed Moloto’s sentiments.
Withdrawal news ‘via media’
In a brief statement, Brink said he had learnt of ActionSA’s withdrawal from the multiparty government through the media.
“We as a coalition have had no notice of this, no formal writing, and no clear indication that was going to the the case, but we can only accept that given what has happened, given the statements made by Herman Mashaba and others, given the fact that our repeated attempts to meet with the leadership of ActionSA has been rebuffed, that this is in fact the situation.
“It is deeply disappointing, I regard it as a betrayal of our coalition and of the residents of Tshwane,” Brink said.
For a greater part of 2023, the city was candid about its severe financial constraints, part of which it attributed to the previous ANC-led administration, which had been at the helm for nearly two decades before being replaced by a DA-led coalition in 2016.
Read more: Tshwane municipality wilting under bad finances and scandal
The city could barely pay its debt, including to Eskom and Rand Water, and its finances were further crippled by a protracted municipal strike by workers who were demanding a 5.4% salary increase.
Earlier this week, Auditor-General Tsakani Mabunda said Tshwane had improved its outcome from an adverse audit opinion to a qualified opinion by taking steps to implement prior-year audit recommendations.
“This coalition has achieved remarkable successes, established a stable platform in which to improve service delivery. And ActionSA will have to account to the people of Tshwane about what has happened,” Brink said.
Statement slamming DA ‘hypocrisy’
On Friday, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba issued a strongly worded statement slamming the DA’s hypocrisy, and alleged that the DA in the metro had been secretly pursuing an alliance with the ANC.
“South Africans, particularly the residents of Tshwane, should be aware of the fact that the DA has been actively pursuing a covert alliance with the ANC, an effort intended to jeopardise the governing coalition in favour of their desire to consolidate an exclusive arrangement with the ANC. Accusing us of disloyalty while engaging in such deceitful tactics is both shameful and hypocritical.
It is worth noting that on a national level, ANC and DA are in an alliance, which led to the formation of the government of national unity.
Mashaba further argued that the DA had been at the centre of the instability across metros in Gauteng, despite having been part of the DA coalition in Tshwane.
To back this claim, Mashaba made reference to a March 2023 council meeting, which was due to elect an ActionSA speaker, Kholofelo Morodi, but ended up suffering a major blow after DA members marked their ballot papers with “1, 2, 3” instead of the usual tick or cross.
Read more: Fists, foul language and legal threats fly in Tshwane council after dramatic vote for speaker
The IEC ultimately declared the votes as spoiled, and led to the ANC/EFF’s candidate Mncedi Ndzwanana of the African Transformation Movement elected speaker.
Instability in Tshwane
Mashaba said that incident and many others had collectively contributed to the collapse of many working coalitions, and the subsequent instability in Tshwane.
“Further to this, ActionSA structures and voters have rightly raised growing frustration about the disparate levels of service delivery in Tshwane, which is impacting residents most fundamentally, especially those living in townships across Tshwane,” Mashaba said.
Should ActionSA officially decide to pull out of the Tshwane coalition, it would be a case of history repeating itself for Gauteng residents. As the Action-SA partnership saw the removal of a minority party executive mayor and speaker in Johannesburg, for the election of ANC mayor Dada Morero and ActionSA speaker Nobuhle Mthembu, two weeks ago.
Asked about the ANC-ActionSA talks, particularly on who would succeed Brink, and if the Joburg arrangement would apply, Matjila said: “Well, we have not resolved to speak about the issues until we are able to find each other.” DM