Ekurhuleni mayor’s reshuffle triggers political chaos and coalition tensions

The political dust is still settling after Ekurhuleni Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza on Tuesday shook up his Mayoral Committee in a late-night reshuffle that saw the ANC gain more positions, the EFF’s share cut, and ActionSA brought in for the first time. The EFF and ActionSA rejected the move.

The reshuffle saw ANC councillors take up the key MMC roles of finance, roads and transport, and utility services, while the EFF was left with infrastructure and development, as well as human settlements.

ActionSA councillor Xolani Khumalo was lined up as MMC for community services and by-law enforcement. However, ActionSA rejected the appointment.

The EFF turned down the two positions it was offered on the MMC — it previously had four — and pulled out of the coalition altogether, leaving the governing arrangement in Ekurhuleni in a precarious position.

How did this happen?

For several weeks, Xhakaza had been consulting with political parties about the changes he sought to make, attempting to secure approval from his coalition partners.

The coalition government consists of the ANC, EFF, ActionSA and Patriotic Alliance, who together hold 136 of the 224 council seats.

ActionSA’s national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, said Xhakaza had been “blowing up” the cellphones of the party’s leadership with the proposal, which they had rejected from the outset.

“We have been communicating for weeks now that we’re not interested; we have fundamental issues relating to that government’s record in corruption and dealing with the kind of wrongdoing that we are seeing ventilated in the Madlanga Commission on a daily basis. We are not seeing that this is a government we want to find ourselves accountable with,” he said.

The EFF’s convenor of deployees in Gauteng, Mgcini Tshwaku, said the party had not been consulted about the changes.

In 2024, Xhakaza removed the EFF’s regional secretary-general, Nkululeko Dunga, from his role as MMC for finance in Ekurhuleni, citing “unforeseen misalignments”.

The decision was a significant setback for the EFF, which managed the R51.2-billion municipal budget, and added to growing tensions in the Ekurhuleni coalition. In response, the party’s leader, Julius Malema, threatened to withdraw all its MMCs from other municipalities where the party was aligned with the ANC if Dunga were not reinstated in a matter of days.

The ANC and Xhakaza did not give in to the pressure, and the EFF remained a part of the coalition.

Xhakaza later removed the speaker, Nthabiseng Tshivhenga (also from EFF), and now two EFF MMCs.

“The mayor did not consult anyone. It’s like he is trying to manage some political conflicts inside his political party,” Tshwaku told the SABC.

Impact on Ekurhuleni and Gauteng

The EFF’s withdrawal from the coalition has thrown the city’s political landscape into uncertainty, with the council’s 224 seats divided among the ANC (86), the DA (65), the EFF (31), ActionSA (15), Freedom Front Plus (8), the IFP (2), the ACDP (2), and smaller parties sharing the remaining 10 seats.

Dunga told News24: “We will vote against the ANC at every opportunity.”

The withdrawal of the EFF means the ANC-led coalition in Ekurhuleni no longer has a majority.

The move will also affect the Gauteng legislature, where Finance MEC Lebogang Maile will need the EFF’s support to pass the provincial budget next month.

Regional ANC chairperson Jongizizwe Dlabathi, however, seems unconcerned by the threat, even with next week’s council meeting approaching, at which several issues will need to be debated and voted on.

He said he expects councillors to vote according to their conscience, though this may be optimistic given the tensions with ActionSA and the EFF.

“Our singular and common objective is to serve people irrespective of whether you are in a position of power. I do not think there is anything that warrants us to be worried at this point in time. We have taken a decision that is informed by principle, and we should not be scared to take principled decisions,” said Dlabathi.

Why the sudden changes?

While Xhakaza has the prerogative to change his MMCs, at the heart of the reshuffle is the ANC’s view that the EFF has “always” been overrepresented in the executive.

Dlabathi confirmed that regional office-bearers had consulted with the ANC’s national coalition team and its national officials before the changes were effected, suggesting that the move aligned with the party’s broader strategy.

“We put a case that there is a need for us to make changes to the composition of the executive in line with the national framework of the ANC, particularly on propositional representation of political parties. So we would not have moved with the decision to reduce the EFF if we did not get that concurrence,” said Dlabathi.

Xolani Khumalo’s appointment

Beaumont believes that Khumalo’s appointment to the Mayoral Committee by Khakaza was an attempt to “silence him” or stifle his mayoral campaign ahead of the 2026 local government elections.

Khumalo, ActionSA’s mayoral candidate in Ekhurhuleni, was recently linked to a killing during the shooting of his reality show and faces criminal charges.

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Authorities distance themselves from fatal shooting at which ActionSA's Xolani Khumalo was present

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Dlabathi, however, believes ActionSA’s decision to turn down the appointment was influenced by the EFF, which had reportedly threatened to support a motion of no-confidence against ActionSA’s Tshwane mayor, Nasiphi Moya, if the party accepted positions on the Mayoral Committee in Ekurhuleni.

Opposition response

The DA’s caucus leader, Brandon Pretorius, lamented Xhakaza’s reshuffle, saying the move was about self-preservation and had nothing to do with service delivery.

“As the second-largest party in Ekurhuleni, the DA will fight — now more than ever, to hold this executive to account,” said Pretorius. “We will fight for every resident of Ekurhuleni who deserves better than what they have received under this ANC-led government.”

The IFP’s provincial secretary, Alco Ngobese, said, “We’re very worried about the city’s stability, especially when it comes to service delivery. These ructions, the planned motion of no-confidence and all that will delay service delivery to the communities of Ekurhuleni, that worries me a lot.”

Coalition on the brink?

The coalition remains fragile, with Xhakaza’s political future increasingly uncertain. The EFF has made it clear that it will now sit on the opposition benches and is likely to support a motion of no confidence against him.

This would not be the first such motion he has faced. In March last year, the Independent Citizens Movement tabled a motion against him, accusing him of failing to improve the municipality. The motion, however, was withdrawn at the last minute.

So, what next?

For now, there are more questions than answers; all that is clear is that Xhakaza is now considering who to appoint to the three vacant MMC positions.

He could turn to smaller parties, though even their support would not give him the majority needed to govern effectively.

Dlabathi has indicated that the vacancies are likely to be filled before next week’s council sitting.

Meanwhile, the ANC’s regional office bearers are expected to address the media on Friday, 20 February. DM