Tshwane political rift: DA hasn't ruled out working with ActionSA

PRETORIA - Despite the rift between the two parties, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has not ruled out working with ActionSA again in the City of Tshwane.

ActionSA recently withdrew from a DA-led coalition that governed the capital city since 2021.

On Thursday, ActionSA councillors voted for the removal of Cilliers Brink as mayor.

And on Friday, the DA held a media briefing on its next move.

ActionSA has since described its relationship with the DA as toxic and abusive.

Despite this, DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga said the door was not closed on ActionSA.

 “We are open to talking to every party in SA that is willing not to do away with the Constitution, that is willing to then ensure an open capital market is what we are having in SA.”

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However, DA caucus leader and former Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink is less diplomatic about the prospect of working with ActionSA again.

“There was a time when they were part of the solution, constitutionalist, pro-growth. But now they are useful idiots of those that want to destroy the Constitution, who are opposed to the GNU [Government of National Unity].

“That’s what Herman Mashaba [ActionSA president] has made them. I would find it very, very difficult to ever trust anything what those people say again.”

DA HOPEFUL BRINK WILL RETURN AS TSHWANE MAYOR

At the same time, Msimanga says the DA is still hopeful that Cilliers Brink will return as the mayor of Tshwane.

He told reporters that over the next two weeks, they will be negotiating with all parties represented in the City of Tshwane council.

Msimanga said the DA would demand the return of Brink to the mayoral position.

“We now need to bring everybody around the table and say do you want stability in the municipality of Tshwane but not just Tshwane but other municipalities as well?

“It cannot be that we’re talking about a GNU at a national level, we’re talking about the unity that we are assisting the ANC to bring into this country. We are assisting the ANC to bring even in KZN and yet when it comes to Gauteng and its municipalities something else is happening.”

The City of Tshwane Council now has 14 working days to elect a new mayor.