• The ActionSA Leader vows never to join the grand coalition.
• Mashaba says GNU was formed to serve personal interests and not those of South Africa.
• He says the DA joined forces with the ANC for power and positions. 
• Masha denounces the DA as an “arrogant and dishonest” party that pays lip service to anti-corruption. 

ACTIONSA President Herman Mashaba has denounced President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Government of National Unity (GNU), saying his party would never join it because it would mean working with a “criminal ANC”, and a “dishonest and arrogant” Democratic Alliance (DA) which pays lip service to the fight against corruption.  

The former Joburg mayor said the DA joined forces with the governing party because it wanted power, positions and “to control the ANC” rather than serve the people of South Africa. 

In a wide-ranging interview with African Times at his home in Johannesburg on Friday, June 21, the former businessman said the ANC-led grand coalition, framed as a GNU, had been established in the interest of politicians and not the country. It would only last if the DA agreed to protect ANC “corruption”, and the governing party danced to the official opposition’s tune. 

Moreover, Mashaba ruled out the possibility of ActionSA being part of the Progressive Caucus in Parliament – a centre-left group of parties – citing policy differences with former President Jacob Zuma’s MK party and Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). 

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the ANC’s decision to form a grand coalition with other parties after his organization failed to win an outright majority in the May 29 general elections. A total of 10 parties – including the DA, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Patriotic Alliance (PA) – are part of the grand coalition. 

Mashaba, whose party won six of the 400 parliamentary seats, said he wouldn’t join the governing coalition because ActionSA contested elections on the ticket of removing the ANC from power. 

“I made a commitment to the people of South Africa that I would never work with the ANC because it is a criminal enterprise. I don’t want to associate with such characters. There was just no way that ActionSA would have accepted to be part of this. Why? You look at these guys over the past two weeks. Negotiations have been about positions, and I am not in politics because I want to be a Member of Parliament. I went into politics to save our country from the ANC,” said Mashaba.

He cast doubt on the workability and longevity of the GNU, saying it wasn’t formed in the best interest of South Africa. It wouldn’t last because the DA was too arrogant and suffered from a “my way or the highway” mentality. 

“It wasn’t formed in the best interest of South Africa, this Government of National Unity. The last two weeks are a clear demonstration of personal interest. For the ANC to remain relevant and in government, they need the other parties. Basically, they have just come out with this term to confuse us as South Africans and buy time to see if they can consolidate, which is impossible.  If [the] ANC had received 50 plus one [majority], they were going to continue with their corrupt activity. The DA’s interest in this matter also has to do with positions, control and working with the ANC.”

“If it was in the best interest of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa should have, after the results were announced, called all the parties represented in Parliament immediately to say, guys, we are in this situation, can we form a Government of National Unity. But not for them to invite other parties. They have no right to do so. They don’t have the majority to be calling the shots,” he added.

The ActionSA leader said DA Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille’s letter to ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula on June 24 proved that personal interest was the motive behind the GNU. In the letter,  Zille said Ramaphosa had no right to appoint his executive without consulting her party. She added that the DA wanted to appoint Directors-General for their ministries. 

In addition, Zille demanded control of 12 key ministries including the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) and the Departments of Trade and Industry; Health; Justice; Mineral Resources and Energy; and Transport. ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri dismissed Zille’s claims and demands as “outlandish”.

After skirmishes over positions, and the DA’s threats to pull out of the GNU, Ramaphosa finally announced his cabinet on July 1. The president allocated the official opposition six ministries, and offered Cabinet and deputy ministerial posts to eight other opposition parties such as the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and Gayton Mckenzie’s Patriotic Alliance (PA). 

Mashaba maintained that the public fallout between the DA and ANC over positions indicated their deal was about personal interests.

“Look at this agreement which they signed with the DA, and now the DA says, no,  the president has got no right to do anything including the appointment of the Cabinet. They must be consulted. I think you can see it has got absolutely nothing to do with the principles. It’s got to do with positions. If ever negotiations like these were done in the right fashion, as far as I am concerned, the first thing that you must agree upon is to discuss the principles of what the Government of National Unity is all about. But that is not really being involved,” he said.

However, ActionSA would support Ramaphosa’s governing coalition if it implemented progressive policies which protected private-sector investment, fought crime, promoted co-existence, and curbed illegal immigration, Mashaba said.

“We are glad that [ the] ANC does no longer have the majority to use Parliament to protect their corrupt leadership. It would really be up to the DA and others to protect corruption. If they do so, we will expose it. But when this government comes up with progressive policies to ensure that our borders are controlled, we encourage private sector investment and protect us from criminals because, as you are aware, South Africa is the crime capital of the world, we are the rape capital of the world, we have got the highest sustainable unemployment rate in the world.”

“If they come up with policies that are going to address these issues, we will support them. But when they come out telling us that the president can bring foreign currency under mattresses and expect us to support that, we are not going to support such reports,” he maintained. 

The DA declined to comment on Mashaba’s accusations, saying it had important things to worry about. 

“In response to your questions on Mashaba’s comments on the DA, we have important work to do in rescuing SA and have no plans to get into a media fight with ASA. We have better and more important things to do with our time,” the DA’s Director of Communications Richard Newton said. 

DA Leader John Steenhuisen’s spokesperson, Charity McCord, said “The Leader will not be commenting on these”. 

Mahlengi Benguela-Motsiri, the ANC’s national spokesperson, failed to respond to questions sent on June 22. Neither did she answer or return repeated calls. 

Moreover, Mashaba said his party would not partake in the ANC’s proposed national dialogue.

“We don’t want to give credibility because Cyril Ramaphosa just wants to have relevance as if he’s doing the right thing. If he had the intention to do the right thing he would have done the right thing from the beginning. But you can’t expect to do the right thing after messing up and then you want to correct it afterwards and you expect us to be party to that. They can continue with their dialogues, and ActionSA will not participate in such,” he insisted. 

Asked whether ActionSA felt betrayed by the DA, which dumped the Multi-Party-Charter [MPC] in favour of the ANC’s GNU, Mashaba said Zille and Steenhuisen showed disdain and dishonesty for their voters. The MPC is a centre-right opposition party coalition the DA cobbled together before May 29 elections. It included almost all opposition parties except the EFF and MKP. 

“They did not betray us. They betrayed South Africans because, remember, they campaigned on the basis of not working with the ANC. They were rescuing the country from the ANC, and they committed in front of the nation that they would never work with the ANC. But, even before consulting members of the Multi-Party Charter, they started negotiating with the ANC while the election results were still being announced,” Mashaba said.  

He warned the ANC about the DA’s alleged arrogance and control-freak tendencies. Mashaba said the official opposition was not as honest and committed to fighting corruption as it claimed.  

“To be honest with you, even today, I still find it difficult to understand why Helen Zille had the guts already in 2019 to have discussions to have me removed as the mayor. Remember when I ran the City of Johannesburg, we were the only stable coalition in South Africa at the time, progressing and making major progress. Why my arrangement worked was because I respected all the parties, whereas Zelen Zille’s approach as the DA is their way or no highway.”

“And it’s actually demonstrating this to the ANC right now that they entered this arrangement so that they can control the ANC. So the ANC has got to be careful because they are already showing their arrogance as if they are clean. I am already on record that in the three years, I was the Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, when the DA was accusing me of corruption with the EFF, not a single time did the EFF ever discuss a tender with me. Not once. But I can’t say the same about the DA,” the former Johannesburg mayor said.

Mashaba said former DA Leader Tony Leon’s request for a multi-million tender in 2019, the DA’s objections to his firing party MMCs for alleged corruption, and former DA Tshwane Mayor Randall Williams’ R26 billion irregular tender in 2021 were evidence that the DA’s commitment to the fight against corruption was hollow. 

Despite ruling out joining the ANC’s grand coalition, Mashaba said his party would only collaborate with the newly formed Progressive Caucus in Parliament as and when.

“We will work and serve with them as opposition parties, and where we agree in Parliament. But as ActionSA, we will never have formal relationships with what is called the Progressive grouping. Firstly, MK does not really believe in a constitutional democracy, and I think for us as ActionSA, we will do everything possible to protect our constitution. Secondly, EFF policies, unfortunately, do not resonate with us as ActionSA. We are unapologetic about our belief in a free-market economy.”

“We don’t want to be in a coalition with a party that says my property, that I own and paid for, must belong to the government…and the government must nationalize banks. For that reason, we are saying, guys, we are happy in Parliament where there are common issues, we can work together. But we don’t want to have an official relationship with such grouping,” he added.