Action SA says it will support and work with the ANC in the Joburg metro saying it has given the ANC three conditions to make this possible

Guest: Funzi Ngobeni, Action SA Gauteng Chairperson Action SA says it will support and work with the ANC in the Joburg metro saying it has given the ANC three conditions to make this possible. The party announced the controversial decision on Monday during a press briefing that it held after an ActionSA Senate meeting on Saturday. Party president Herman Mashaba said that even though the party had vowed to never work with the ANC, it could not sit on its 44 seats in the Johannesburg council because of its principles. The governing coalition in Johannesburg, the government of local unity (GLU), is made up of the ANC, EFF, PA and minority parties. Divisions in the GLU were made clear at the last sitting of council on 9 July when the EFF voted against the R2.5 billion loan from the Agence Francaise de Developpement. The loan forms part of the 2023/24 R80.9 billion budget, but it is missing from the budget because it was not passed by the council. On Monday, Mashaba made it clear that ActionSA was not in a coalition with the ANC. Instead, he said, the party would work with the ANC on a case-to-case basis and throw its weight behind any decision that would benefit the residents of Johannesburg. ActionSA is the third-biggest party in Johannesburg, after the ANC, with 91 seats in council, and the DA, with 71 seats. Mashaba said the decision to work with the ANC came from its constituencies, which were concerned about the city's degradation. Johannesburg is marred by crumbling infrastructure, which has seen water and electricity outages, crumbling roads and bridges, and rampant crime. Mashaba said once the City of Johannesburg was stabilised, they would move on to the City of Tshwane and then to Ekurhuleni, which is marred by infighting between the ANC and the EFF.