City of Tshwane executive mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya photo by Dimakatso Modipa
The City of Tshwane Municipality finds itself mired by coalition chaos yet again.
Coalitions between political parties are in most cases “a marriage of convenience” between formations which actually hate one another like nobody’s business in many instances.
These coalitions are like the proverbial motley crew; people who have different aims and objectives, and what binds them together temporarily at any given time is to get rid of the common enemy, and once that has been achieved, they embark on their original agendas.
They resemble outlaws in Western cowboy films as well as double agents in Mafia films; ruthless to the core!
The first coalition arrangement in the City of Tshwane took place after the 2016 local government elections produced a ” hung Council,” meaning no singular party could govern Tshwane alone.
Though the ANC had won most votes in the said elections, it had not won the majority of the votes and this resulted in sworn enemies EFF and DA joining together with parties like Freedom Front Plus to prevent the ANC from retaining power in Tshwane.
But down the line on 2 July 2019 the coalition was hit by chaos when EFF quit its alliance with the DA and Freedom Front Plus, but total chaos was prevented when parties like the ACDP and Freedom Front Plus joined the DA in voting for decisions that would keep the DA in power.
After the 2021 local government elections, ActionSA joined DA and EFF Plus to make sure that the DA remains in power as senior partner in the Tshwane Metro Municipality.
But in October 2024 ActionSA jumped ship to align itself with the ANC and EFF to oust sitting DA- Mayor Cilliers Brink from power with ActionSA’s Dr Nasiphi Moya being hoisted to the position of Mayor of Tshwane.
Moya had up until then been serving as Deputy Mayor to Cilliers Brink.
Now another coalition chaos is looming in Tshwane, with Dr Moya clearly having fallen out of favour with her alliance partners in the form of the EFF and the ANC.
Dr Moya finds herself in the firing line as she is now disliked by the EFF and ANC on the one hand, as well as the DA and Freedom Front Plus on the other.
And rumours regarding her allegedly spending City of Tshwane Municipality funds for renovations to her homes are not helpful at all to the Mayor because she may be removed based on false perceptions, this as the rules and regulations of the City of Tshwane Municipality allow aggrieved parties to remove the Mayor willy- nilly.
It won’t be surprising if the EFF/ANC faction joins together with the DA/FF Plus grouping, albeit temporarily, to get rid of Dr Moya in a vote of no confidence.
With Moya out of the way the said parties will work out some dispensation regarding who assumes the position of the Mayor and this will last until yet another coalition chaos hits the City of Tshwane Municipality to the detriment of the ever-suffering residents of Tshwane.
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