The Democratic Alliance (DA) has said it will fight to preserve the progress it has made with its coalition partners in the City of Tshwane and stop ActionSA president Herman Mashaba from “delivering the worst possible outcome for the city”, after the green party pulled out of the governing coalition over the weekend.

DA national spokesperson Willie Aucamp noted that weeks ago Mashaba insinuated that his party would vote with the opposition to remove DA Mayor Cilliers Brink from power.

Aucamp said the decision by ActionSA’s senate is a confirmation of what had already been decided.

ActionSA has decided to consider an alternative municipal coalition government for Tshwane.

Aucamp said despite overwhelming opposition to this move, including by members of ActionSA, Mashaba seems “intent on bringing down an effective, well-functioning coalition".

He stated that ActionSA’s conduct towards coalition partners, supporters, and the public, has been characterised by lies, deceit and betrayal.

“Now ActionSA, which hold the deputy mayorship and key mayoral committee portfolios in Tshwane, blames its coalition partners for the city’s supposed failures. ActionSA’s turn on the Tshwane coalition has nothing to do with service delivery, the residents of Tshwane, or the future of the city,” Aucamp said.

He further claimed that Mashaba had “counted on a deal” with the African National Congress (ANC) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to elect an ActionSA mayor, “the calculation being that the party will benefit from holding this position.”

Aucamp explained that the only way ActionSA’s “ploy” could work was if its new coalition included the EFF.

“Mashaba has turned ActionSA into the useful idiots of anti-constitutional forces in South African politics, and in the process has jeopardised the future of the capital city,” Aucamp said.

Meanwhile, Mashaba acknowledged the confusion caused by ongoing events in Tshwane, noting that many believed that ActionSA planned to “blindly” go into a coalition in support of the ANC, which it had always sworn to never support.

“We will never support, nor allow ActionSA to be used, to shield corruption and other forms of abuses, irrespective of whom we get into a coalition with,” he said.

Mashaba said the decision to consider an alternative municipal coalition government for Tshwane had not been taken lightly.

“…but it is a decision we’re prepared to defend because we believe that what we propose will be a better alternative to current abuses of trust, details of which we shall expose at the right time,” he said.

Mashaba said his party wanted to be allowed a bit more time to consult with various possible coalition partners for the best outcome and said results of the consultations would be made public as soon as they were concluded.

“Everyone should rest assured that should we fail to secure an alternative coalition government we can confidently be part of, ActionSA will happily rejoin the opposition benches in Tshwane,” he stated.