Pretoria - For now, Mayor Solly Msimanga’s future as the political head of the capital City depends on the proposed talks between the EFF and DA regarding his running of the municipality.
This comes after the DA expressed their intention to reach out to the EFF after a failed bid to oust Msimanga from office through a motion of vote of no confidence.
The EFF and ANC tabled motions to remove Msimanga during a council sitting on Thursday, but speaker Katlego Mathebe rendered the motion by the EFF invalid because it was devoid of a written motivation.
EFF councillors wanted to give an oral motivation, but she denied them that opportunity and they in turn staged a walkout in protest.
The ANC motion could not be heard after councillors walked out in solidarity with the EFF.
On Friday, regional DA leader Abel Tau said it was important for both parties to talk to each other in the interest of providing service delivery to the people.
“The DA is open to talks with the EFF so that we can find each other. Both party leader Mmusi Maimane and Solly Msimanga have already alluded to that.
“Those engagements will happen, but I do not believe that would happen today or tomorrow.”
The proposed talks are expected to take place on the back of the EFF’s demand to the DA to replace Msimanga with a “credible” candidate.
Tau said: “One of the things that was clear from the beginning was that they don’t have a problem with the DA, but they have a problem with mayor Solly Msimanga.”
He said the DA was seriously concerned about the proposal because it rendered Msimanga as someone who was not credible.
He defended Msimanga against the EFF, saying his track record as a credible leader spoke volumes, and challenged the EFF to bring forward any evidence to convince the DA that Msimanga was not a credible leader.
Meanwhile, the EFF, in a media statement, said they would consult their lawyers about the correctness of Mathebe’s ruling.
Party spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said: “Furthermore, the EFF will engage all stakeholders involved to develop a concrete way forward, which will include credible transitional measures in the City of Tshwane.”
He said the EFF’s motion against Msimanga was proposed because of “Msimanga’s incompetence, cowardice in the face of a racist white caucus, and inability to implement key submissions of the EFF on issues such as insourcing of workers and opening of clinics for 24 hours”.
According to him, party councillors left council with the intention “of re-tabling the motion at a subsequent stage in a manner that will meet all the procedural provisions of council”.
Regarding service delivery in Tshwane, he said: “The EFF demands a manifesto of commitments that workers would be in-sourced, clinics opened for 24 hours, and land given to landless communities as non-negotiable, and that those governing hung municipalities should implement these without fail.
The ANC, on the other hand, said it intended to join the EFF’s legal move as friends of the court in their case.