ActionSA moves to block Zille in Joburg
ActionSA is attempting to block Helen Zille from becoming the mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, favoring their own leader Herman Mashaba instead. The party claims Zille's leadership style is destructive and is leveraging their coalition influence to negotiate the position.
Why it matters
This political maneuvering highlights the complexities of coalition governance in South Africa's hung councils following recent local elections.
ActionSA, buoyed by its strong showing in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, will push the DA to drop Helen Zille as its mayoral candidate for Joburg and give the post to its leader, Herman Mashaba, instead.
Although the party is not outright opposed to Zille, it claims her “destructive ways” could be an obstacle to it supporting her for the top job.
At the heart of ActionSA’s gripe against Zille — who was the DA’s star performer in the elections — is the claim that she is “arrogant” and cannot be trusted. ANC elections chief Mdumiseni Ntuli claimed that she sees herself as a “messiah”.
“ActionSA will keep the DA out of Jozi if they insist on Helen. She is not honest; she says one thing to you today and stabs you in the back the next,” said an ActionSA source.
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