Johannesburg – ActionSA on Thursday said the Democratic Alliance (DA) has abandoned Joburg Mayor Dr. Mpho Phalatse who is facing motions of no confidence later today.
In a statement, ActionSA said, “it can confirm that talks have failed, and the multi-party coalition will face motions of no confidence without the majority to defend Mayor Mpho Phalatse”.
Three minority parties – the African Transformation Movement, African Independent Congress, and Al Jama-ah, have separately tabled no-confidence motions in the Joburg mayor.
On Wednesday, coalition partners held a meeting to try and align their defence of the embattled mayor and ensure she had the numbers to survive a vote.
However, ActionSA said: “Final negotiations ultimately failed because the DA refused to listen to the opinions of all of its coalition partners…
“Rather than honouring a universally accepted proposal the DA sought to brand the Patriotic Alliance (with whom the coalition was negotiating) as corrupt.
“As a consequence, it seems certain that the motions of no confidence will succeed and the coalition in Johannesburg will fall.”
ActionSA added that it “spares a thought for Mayor Mpho Phalatse who has been abandoned by her own party despite her determined efforts to lead this coalition government”.
The coalition government comprises the DA, African Christian Democratic Party, Freedom Front Plus, Congress of the People, Inkatha Freedom Party, and ActionSA.
Michael Beaumont Samkelo Mgobozi the party’s national chairperson said: “ActionSA does not hold any affinity towards the Patriotic Alliance (PA), however, along with most of our coalition partners, we understood the seat allocations in Johannesburg to make the PA the most likely way to restore the majority of the coalition”.
Mgobozi added: “ActionSA will now reach out to our other coalition partners and seek their support for an ActionSA candidate to stand for mayor today.”
