Of Political Flip-Floppers and Turncoats

ActionSA president Herman Mashaba

An interesting question was asked by Radio 702 host Bongani Bingwa this morning (September 17) about whether ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba is a turncoat. 

This after ActionSA's senate - the highest decision-making body - elected to cut ties with the DA-led multiparty coalition running SA's capital city Tshwane. This effectively means DA councillor Cilliers Brink's days as executive mayor are numbered.

A motion of no confidence is expected to be tabled against him next week Thursday (September 26). If ActionSA votes with the ANC and EFF to remove him - as widely expected - then Brink is toast! This is clear for everyone to see, hence the DA has been on panic mode recently, issuing critical media releases questioning Mashaba's bona fides. 

But back to Bingwa's question. I hold no brief for Mashaba but it would be disingenuous to suggest he is a turncoat. For a number of reasons, of course. During 2023, as the buildup to the 2024 national and provincial elections was gaining momentum, the DA together with other opposition parties including ActionSA, gathered at Emperor's Palace on the east of Johannesburg.

At this Kempton Park venue parties signed what would be known as the multiparty charter for SA - a document binding all of them toward the goal of dislodging the the ANC from power. One of the clauses of this deal was that parties to the agreement would not work with the ANC. 

However, the DA - confident that the ANC would fall below 50% in the election, subsequently took everyone by surprise when its leaders admitted they were entertaining "exploratory talks" with the ANC, the very same party it was agreed parties would not work with. Fast forward to July 2024: the ANC having suffered a crushing defeat in the elections (it received 40% of the vote, from 57% in the previous election) invites political parties to join what it calls the government of national unity (GNU) (Helen Zille insists it's a coalition between the ANC and the DA).

The DA joins the GNU and scores a number of cabinet positions and deputy minister posts including agriculture, basic education, and finance. No one makes noise that the DA has abandoned the multiparty charter for SA and that it is effectively working with the ANC. Interesting to note is that ActionSA refused to join the GNU, opting instead to occupy opposition benches in parliament. 

These political developments at national had an impact at the local government sector as ActionSA subsequently held talks with the ANC that led to ANC councillor Dada Morero elected as mayor of SA's richest metro and country's financial and economic hub, Joburg. But ActionSA was not done as it trained its guns on the Tshwane metro. A number of meetings were held between the ANC and Tshwane on what is to be done in the capital city.

This led to the ActionSA senate electing to cut ties with the DA-led coalition in Tshwane after sustained accusations by the Mashaba-led party that the DA was undermining it in council. Among others, it accused DA councillors of seeing to it that an ActionSA candidate was not voted in as council speaker (by allegedly spoiling ballot papers) in 2023. It also accuses the DA of neglecting townships in rolling out service delivery.

Now that Brink's job is on the line, everyone has made it their business to opine about how ActionSA is selling out as if it was beholden to the DA and could not take decisions of its own and determine its future. ActionSA owes the DA nothing. Zilch. Nada. Nix/Niks. The last I checked, ActionSA was an independent political organisation with its own constitution and political outlook. 

It's worth noting that the DA has not received the same amount of vilification for jumping into bed with the ANC, a party it vowed to never work with.

But wait, ActionSA does the same and its leaders are hauled over the coals. Why the double standards? Former president Thabo Mbeki said in 2023 he would not encourage people to vote for the ANC, which he once said had rotten apples and thieves within its ranks. 

But when Mbeki flip-flopped and joined the ANC on its campaign trail ahead of the May 29 polls, again no one accused him of being a turncoat. There are many examples of political leaders, from EFF's Julius Malema, Jacob Zuma, Cyril Ramaphosa, and John Steenhuisen, saying one thing and doing the other. Politicians change their minds all the time. But it seems like there is selective outrage depending on who the politician is. 

Yes, the revolving door of executive mayors in Gauteng metros of Joburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane needs to come to an end as it affects the delivery of municipal services. And so must the selective outrage. 

Until there is legislation in place governing coalitions, the political instability in our municipal councils will be with us for a very, very long time. And with that, many flip-floppers and turncoats will abound.