Insider reveals ‘real’ reason Bosa fired Ayanda Allie, as Mashaba denies ‘sweet deal’ allegations

A senior member of Build One South Africa (Bosa) has revealed that the party’s main reason for firing its former Gauteng member of the provincial legislature (MPL), Ayanda Allie, was that she had been in talks with Herman Mashaba for months about crossing over to ActionSA.

Allie was fired by Bosa two weeks ago. At the time, the party claimed that there were fundamental differences between Allie and the party’s board of directors about a monthly tithe that she was expected to pay.

Why Bosa got rid of Allie

However, a senior party member who has asked not to be named has told The Citizen that the party used the tithing matter as an excuse to fire Allie. According to the source, the party had received intelligence that Allie was negotiating to join Mashaba’s party, ActionSA.

“We also believe that there is money she has received from Mashaba, and we cannot compete with that. But there was no way that we could keep her with the kind of knowledge that we have,” said the source.

While Allie enjoyed a good relationship with Bosa leader Mmusi Maimane, the source said she started acting “bigger” than the organisation. This includes allegedly failing to attend important party meetings.

“We are all part of a team, and all the achievements she said she is responsible for are because she is part of a political home that gave her support,” said the source.

The source said Maimane refuses to publicly comment on the matter because of his personal relationship with Allie.

“They come from the same township, and they grew up together; Mmusi is heartbroken.”

Mashaba responds to allegations

Mashaba announced Allie as ActionSA’s elections campaign ambassador for Gauteng, meaning she works directly for the party.

However, he told The Citizen on Monday that he did not use money to lure Allie to ActionSA.

“That is not true; I would not waste money paying someone to join a political party,” he said.

Instead, he said a friend told him that Allie was experiencing trouble at Bosa. He said he then called her and invited her to his house for a discussion.

Mashaba said that during this discussion, Allie informed him that she was being charged and put through disciplinary processes in her former party over tithes.

“I then extended the invitation that she can come and become part of the ActionSA family, and I was happy when she accepted,” he said.

Mashaba refused to disclose how much ActionSA will pay Allie as a campaign ambassador.

“That is a confidential matter between her and ActionSA,” he said.

However, he said Allie will not be required to pay a tithe because she is not a public representative.

Mashaba also criticised Bosa for firing Allie.

“If they had intelligence, they would use it to grow their party,” he said.

Allie denies accusations

Speaking to The Citizen, Allie denied that she had not attended Bosa events.

“In terms of the allegation that I had started to pull back on party-related activities, kindly look at my Twitter account. You will note that I had posted several party events, a case opened against the Gambling Board CEO as well as a strike at Gold Reef City,” she said.

She also denied that she had received money from ActionSA or Mashaba.

“With regard to allegations that I have received funds from Action SA, that is wholly untrue!”

Allie added that she often met with members of opposition parties to fulfil her duties in the Johannesburg legislature.

“During my tenure at the legislature, I have met with various politicians and political parties as part of my work. I needed to build relationships with all parties in order for me to conduct my duties. A single seat doesn’t get you very far in terms of serving your constituency but collaboration with other parties makes you effective at the legislature.”

Floor crossing and engagements

Allie told the media last week that she had been considering a new political home for some time.

“Many of the people would DM me to say, come and join this particular organisation. So, mulling over it and of course, time goes on, and things change in your own political home and that climate forces one to think about – so what’s next. That is when we had that famous tea and coffee that we had,” said Allie.

According to Allie, there were conversations with a couple of other organisations.

“One did not feel quite at home as one feels now in ActionSA. So it was not a wake-up in the morning knee-jerk reaction,” she said.