Tshwane — ActionSA have set its sights on the mayoral position in Tshwane, with party leader, Herman Mashaba, saying it would only support the ANC if it was able to field a more competent candidate than them.
Mashaba said the party would nominate Nasiphi Moya as the mayoral candidate of Tshwane after going into negotiations with the ANC. She is the current acting mayor of Tshwane following Cilliers Brink’s removal, IOL reported.
In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, Mashaba said that while the party is negotiating with the ANC, he has proposed Dr Nasiphi Moya as the candidate, and the ANC had no problem with that.
He said the ANC had requested to negotiate with the ANC but he wanted to first discuss with the ActionSA’s internal structures. He added that ActionSA would consider ANC’s candidate if it was better than Moya.
“It depends on who they will put forward, they have to put someone better than Dr Nasiphi. We will look at it. What I am trying to say is that we are not clever and some people have accepted my race not to be clever, but we are not fools. I’m not going to engage with such sensitive negotiations in public,” Mashaba said.
📺 MUST WATCH: “I’ve proposed Dr. @nasiphim as our preferred mayoral candidate for the city of Tshwane.”
ActionSA President @HermanMashaba outlines the timeline of discussions that ActionSA undertook following consultations with provincial structures and the ANC relating to the… pic.twitter.com/9jNLeAMjXX
— ActionSA (@Action4SA) October 1, 2024
Some reports suggested that ActionSA had endorsed the current deputy mayor of Tshwane, Nasiphi Moya, to take the mayoral position. Moya is an ActionSA member, which the ANC had dismissed as “wishful thinking”.
The DA has also stated its intention to re-elect Brink with John Steenhuisen claiming the party would do its best to return him to his position.
“We undertake to leave no stone unturned to return them to office in Tshwane,” he said.
Meanwhile, SABC News reported that Moya has no expectations for the mayoral position, but hopes that negotiations are conducted quickly. With the ANC, DA and ActionSA all vying for the position, there is a lot at stake for the city of Tshwane. Tshwane has less than 14 days to meet and elect a new mayor.
She said she was not part of negotiations but was aware that her name was brought forward by Mashaba.
“ I must be honest two weeks is not a long time. I would want the elections to happen in less than the 14 days the legislation gives us. There is a role of political executive and you can’t trust an institution as big as Tshwane to want political executives so that’s one thing I’ve been urging leaders from parties involved is to please get political parties executives, so we can continue with service delivery,” she said.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
