After voting in favour of the DA to reinstate Tania Campbell as the mayor of Ekurhuleni last week, ActionSA has dumped the multi-party coalition.
On Monday, ActionSA chairperson Michael Baumont said the party’s senate has deliberated on a variety of matters relating to the party’s approach to coalitions.
“This included the question of Ekurhuleni following the reinstatement of the executive mayor by all coalition partners, including ActionSA. Of particular importance was the assessment of the state of service delivery in Ekurhuleni,” said Beaumont.
“ActionSA’s caucus in Ekurhuleni raised several serious concerns about basic service delivery regressing in the metro, most notably in terms of the reliability of refuse removal, electricity, and water supply.”
He said when assessing service delivery, his party initiated a public poll across various communities and demographics in Ekurhuleni.
The results show that 62% of the respondents feel the metro had been on the wrong path over the last year, 82% feel the residents are not getting good service delivery, while 57% does not trust the multi-party coalition government.
Beaumont explained: “This information corroborates serious concerns about basic service delivery not being suitably prioritised and the inability to ensure the appointment of professional civil servants to lead departments effectively and stop the ANC-aligned sabotage of basic services.
“ActionSA has similarly voiced concerns frequently for the refusal of the coalition to allow local structures to secure most of the support that could defeat motions of no confidence and pass service delivery budgets. These concerns have been vindicated over the past few weeks.”
Beaumont said ActionSA has resolved not to take up positions in the reconstituted mayoral committee being renegotiated by the multi-party coalition.
“We believe that we need to fight for better service delivery for all the residents of Ekurhuleni. This requires us to give up executive positions and ensure we can fight unencumbered by positions that co-opt our support.
“Going forward, ActionSA will form part of a voting bloc that will work to keep the ANC out of this metro by defeating motions of no confidence and working to pass decisions that serve the service delivery needs of the residents of Ekurhuleni.
“We remain unequivocal in our commitment to keeping the ANC out of this and all other governments, but we cannot be complicit in failed service delivery,” said Beaumont.
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