Coalition talks in Tshwane remained on shaky ground on Monday afternoon, following the DA’s refusal to back ActionSA’s Herman Mashaba as Johannesburg mayor.

The sitting of the new Johannesburg council where the mayor was to be elected was still under way on Monday afternoon, while Tshwane council was set to convene on Tuesday.

Without much time left, the DA, ACDP, COPE, Freedom Front Plus and its breakaway party ActionSA were expected to meet on Monday evening to finalise Tshwane coalition agreements ahead of the council inauguration set for Tuesday.

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Weekend coalition talks which started with the DA coalition partners agreeing to vote for Tshwane DA mayoral candidate Randall Williams, took a turn when the DA on Saturday said they would not vote for Mashaba in Johannesburg. Mashaba was proposed by the coalition partners as the preferred mayoral candidate in that metro.

Speaking to the Rekord on Monday afternoon, Mashaba said the party’s decision whether ActionSA would still vote for DA in Tshwane would “depend on what happens here in Joburg”.

Mashaba did not clarify on the condition his party had but one thing was clear: the stance of the party was no longer certain if they would go ahead to vote for the DA in Tshwane.

The DA’s other coalition partners were also unhappy over the DA’s decision.

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“The multi-party group has no understanding of the DA’s intentions from this point on. It would seem that the DA will proceed to council meetings next week without formal agreements with coalition partners that offer any comfort to the residents of these municipalities,” a joint statement by ActionSA, FF Plus, ACDP and UDM said.

The DA’s win in Tshwane largely depends on ActionSA, which holds 19 seats.

Freedom Front Plus CEO Pieter de Necker said the party would continue to support the DA in the metro despite its refusal to vote for Mashaba in Johannesburg.

“Our position is that we will support Mr Mashaba in Johannesburg if he stands and in Tshwane we will support the DA and nothing changes regarding that,” De Necker said.

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De Necker said as of Monday afternoon, there was no signed agreements but only verbal agreements.

Aside from the DA partners, coalition between other parties were also not successful as the EFF and ANC possible coalition showed no hope. Last week, EFF leader Julius Malema said they stopped talks with the ANC.

Tshwane metro’s inaugural council meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, the day also marks the deadline for councils to have their first meetings after elections.

Tshwane local government election results:

– ANC: 34.63% council seats: 75

– DA: 32.03% seats: 69

– EFF: 10.69% council seats: 23

– Action SA: 8.64% council seats: 19

– Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus): 7.84% council seats: 17

For a party to lead the metro it needs 108 seats. In Tshwane, this will be achieved through a coalition government.

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