CAIPHUS KGOSANA: Why the EFF is happy with Herman Mashaba as Joburg mayor
'Mashaba dances to their tune. When the EFF demanded the insourcing of security guards and other workers, Mashaba implemented this almost immediately'
EXTRACT
There is growing unhappiness in the DA about this arrangement. Some members are quietly calling for a withdrawal from all metros governed through this shadow coalition with the EFF. The argument is that unlike Cape Town, where it has an outright majority, the DA is not really in power in the two other metros and defers too much to the EFF. That means it cannot effectively implement its own policies, making governing difficult.
Two years ago, the EFF leadership met the ANC leadership at Luthuli House. The ANC had just suffered humiliating losses in the local government elections and was at risk of losing the capital city, Tshwane, and the economic hub of Johannesburg. In a cruel twist, the only party that could save the metros the ANC had been running since the first local government elections was led by two individuals it had expelled in disgrace four years earlier. The irony wasn't lost on EFF leader Julius Malema and his comrade-in-arms Floyd Shivambu. They finally had the winning ace up their sleeves and were about to play it. At that meeting, the EFF made a number of impossible demands in return for support to help the ANC keep the metros. Use our 6% national support to augment your numbers in parliament and change the constitution to expropriate land without compensation, nationalise the mines and banks, legislate for free education, scrap e-tolls and erase Die Stem from the national anthem. Then cam...
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