‘Disingenuous and opportunistic’ — DA’s Tania Campbell hits back after ActionSA’s withdrawal in Ekurhuleni

14 Nov 2022

ActionSA aims to thrive in the opposition benches after leaving the Ekurhuleni multiparty coalition due to what it called instability and glaring inequalities in the delivery of services to the metro’s more than four million residents.

ActionSA will continue to work with the DA in the Johannesburg and Tshwane metros despite pulling out of the Ekurhuleni minority coalition on the basis of instability and glaring inequalities in the delivery of services, the party’s national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, said on Monday.

This came after ActionSA voted in favour of Tania Campbell returning as executive mayor last week — weeks after a motion of no confidence booted her out of office.

On Monday during a media briefing, however, the party changed its tune, expressing no confidence in Campbell and unhappiness over a regression in the provision of services and a mounting number of accusations against her since she first ascended to power about a year ago.

Among the accusations levelled against Campbell is a failure to address service delivery concerns in townships while delivering in suburban areas.

The party has also accused Campbell and the DA of obstructing local structures and efforts to pass budgets, causing instability in the metro. As a result, the party said, it had decided to withdraw as a coalition partner and opted to become a constructive and robust opposition.

Campbell has not taken kindly to the allegations levelled against her and ActionSA’s departure from the coalition.

“ActionSA are free to leave the formal coalition should they wish to. We will continue to engage with them as we do with all parties represented in council,” she said through her spokesperson, Warren Gwilt.

‘Time to stop sniping’

Campbell said the party was disingenuous in its approach to leaving the coalition while being aware of the problems which the multiparty government had inherited.

“ActionSA comments are both opportunistic and disingenuous. It is time to stop sniping and to start working hard to fix the mess we have inherited.”

The move to withdraw comes after extensive debate at the party’s Senate meeting at the weekend and consultation with more than 3,000 residents through a public poll which asked residents to comment on the performance of the municipal government.

Beaumont said that following the poll, which pointed to dissatisfaction among residents, the party had to do serious soul-searching.

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“Sixty-two percent of the residents of Ekurhuleni felt that the city was moving in the wrong direction over the past few months. That is particularly concerning when you [take into consideration] that only 23% felt it was moving in the right direction.”

The party also asked residents whether things had become better, stayed the same or become worse over the past 12 months with the multiparty government.

“Fifty percent of residents felt it had gotten worse, 32% said it stayed the same. And only 16% felt that life had gotten better over the last 12 months. And I think of great concern to ActionSA was the fact that 57% of respondents did not feel that they trusted the government to continue, based on their experiences or service delivery,” said Beaumont.

“For that reason, some serious soul-searching needed to be conducted about our role within this multiparty coalition, because … it is one thing to say you want to keep the ANC out, but how do you intend to deliver the services? And the Senate deliberated on this matter at great length,” he said.

Departure no surprise

ActionSA’s departure from the coalition does not come as a surprise, as several councillors, including some from ActionSA, the ANC and EFF, have decried the instability in the metro.

ActionSA caucus leader Tlhogi Moseki said: “Things are really bad in Ekurhuleni. From time to time we were met with deaf ears. None of the issues that we have raised in that particular municipality through coalition partners [was] being attended to.”

The party’s provincial chairperson, Bongani Baloyi, highlighted the plight of residents in disadvantaged communities, whom he said Campbell ignored.

“We saw glaring inequalities of responses to challenges of service delivery, where in suburban areas when there’s an issue, within 48 hours [there is a response], but … when in townships, there’s a period where people might contest and be forced to go into those spaces.

“And it’s something we cannot tolerate as a government. I mean, we govern for everybody, not giving preference to others. So we supported the option, the proposal from the caucus to say, let’s consider something different.”

Baloyi said the party would no longer be part of the mayoral committee that is being reconstituted by the multiparty coalition following Campbell’s reinstatement as a mayor.

Instead, ActionSA will stand outside of the coalition in the hope of “influencing the coalition and the government in a much more robust manner, taking the role as a constructive opposition and seeing and ensuring that they deliver”.

In the same breath, Baloyi said ActionSA was not blind to the challenges that the multiparty government had inherited from the ANC, as the metro remained in a precarious position.

The city will hold a council meeting on 24 November at which an agenda will be delivered. DM

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‘Time to stop sniping’

Departure no surprise