ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba will be served with divorce papers by his Gauteng leader, Bongani Baloyi after the two butted heads over Mashaba’s hostile policy on foreign nationals and the ANC, among others.
Sunday World can reveal that Baloyi, who joined the nascent party after leaving the DA in 2021, will tender his resignation letter at Mashaba’s office in Sandton tomorrow.
News that Baloyi will call it quits was revealed by an insider who did not want to be named because he is not allowed to speak to the media.
The insider said the tension between Mashaba and Baloyi started when Baloyi questioned the former City of Joburg executive mayor’s hostile stance against foreign nationals, his insecurity and the governing party, amogn others.
Mashaba has publicly called on undocumented foreign nationals to be deported to their respective countries.
Baloyi’s view was that foreigners with unique set of skills should be documented, instead of being deported, so they could contribute to the building and the growth of the economy.
Mashaba has also nailed his colours to the mast about his hatred of the ANC when he said he would never work with Africa’s oldest liberation movement and even monikered it a “Criminal Enterprise”.
What broke the camel’s back was his refusal to enter into coalition talks with the ANC even after the DA treated the party like a cog in the machine. “This piqued Baloyi who asked him not to put his personal interests over those of the party,” said the insider.
Baloyi’s worry, added the insider, was that ActionSA was losing out on opportunities to play a major role in coalitions because of Mashaba’s personal vendetta and unbridled animosity towards the ANC.
Another insider said this heightened tensions between Mashaba and Baloyi.
It is alleged that Mashaba started sabotaging Baloyi by organising parallel events in Gauteng.
“Baloyi said when he organised an event in Gauteng, Mashaba would also organise a counter event in the province,” said the insider.
The insider said Baloyi , who has been constantly phoning Mashaba to check on him, stopped doing so.
“He took a decision to only phone him about political issues involving his work and the party and nothing else,” said the insider.
Mashaba, said the insider, summoned Baloyi to a meeting at his offices in Sandton on Monday last week.
When Baloyi arrived at the venue, he found Mashaba and the party’s national chairperson Michael Beaumont.
In the powwow, Mashaba told Baloyi that he was aware of the tension between them and because of it he had taken a decision to remove him as the leader of the party in Gauteng and redeploy him as the party’s national spokesperson.
“Mashaba was effectively demoting Baloyi. Baloyi, shocked as he was, kept his cool and asked Mashaba to give him until Monday (tomorrow) to reflect on his request,” said the insider.
Baloyi later contacted his political emissaries in various regions in Gauteng and other provinces and canvassed Mashaba’s request with them.
“Most of the regions in Gauteng rejected the idea and told Baloyi not to accede to Mashaba’s request and quit instead.
“This is likely to collapse the party because of the structures Baloyi established in Gauteng,” said the insider.
Baloyi said he’ll comment after tomorrow’s meeting.
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