Zille warns ANC of Ramaphosa

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has laid down the gauntlet and demanded the reinstatement of Cilliers Brink as Tshwane mayor.

After holding the mayoral office in the City of Tshwane since March 2023, Brink was ousted by a vote of 120 councillors in a council sitting on Thursday, with 87 councillors opposing the motion of no confidence against him.

Loud cheers and ululation engulfed the City of Tshwane municipal offices as employees celebrated the ousting of Brink.

DA Ultimatum

However, DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille has warned the African National Congress (ANC) to bring back Brink, or the party won't entertain any talks of ensuring stability in other hung metros ahead of the 2026 municipal elections.

Zille made the ultimatum in a letter dated 27 September to ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and the party's lead coalition negotiator, David Makhura, according to News24.

Zille described his removal as a "seismic event in the short life of the national unity government".

She said discussions on "achieving stability" in Tshwane and retaining Brink as mayor had been ongoing for a while.

"The reason is that the [Panyaza] Lesufi faction rules Gauteng, and they ignore their national leadership. The other reason is that ActionSA betrayed the coalition.

"I am aware of the significant efforts you both made over the past two weeks to persuade your Gauteng colleagues to facilitate a wide-ranging ‘stability pact' involving a range of hung metro councils in the run-up to the local government elections in 2026," Zille wrote in the letter.

Earlier in the week, Zille said the removal of Brink would be a "tragedy."

"This is a tragedy, not only for South Africa but also for the government of national unity. The irony is that the motion has been brought against Cilliers not because he's doing badly, but because he is doing well."

Zille said "history will judge them very harshly".

'DA sowing divisions'

However, the ANC in Gauteng on Friday accused the DA of wanting to sow divisions between the provincial executive committee (PEC) and national executive committee (NEC).

Gauteng secretary TK Nciza said on numerous occasions, the DA has "sought to cement a narrative of disunity within the ANC."

"It has desperately sought to position the ANC Gauteng PEC as a rogue structure that is perpetually contradicting the posture of the NEC.

"This dangerous, albeit intentional characterisation is done with the intention to malign the ANC leadership in Gauteng and to single out the ANC Gauteng provincial Chairperson comrade Panyaza Lesufi and the Provincial Secretary comrade Thembinkosi ‘TK' Nciza as rebels," he said.

Nciza claimed that the DA "throttles" the ANC in the Western Cape legislature, the City of Cape Town, and other municipalities.

"Yet no single ANC leader has labelled them as working against the GNU even when they treat the colored, Indian and black Communities in the Western Cape as second class citizens of our country.

"We also call upon the leadership of the DA to reveal the names of the local and national leaders it meets nicodemously outside the leadership of the ANC in Gauteng as we are certain that such is plain illusionary. It is quite clear that the DA is convinced that the ANC is in a grand coalition with them as a party," Nciza said.
New mayor

The Tshwane council now has 14 working days to elect a new mayor, according to council speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana.

DA Gauteng leader Msimanga on Friday said the party would field Brink as its Tshwane mayoral candidate while ActionSA is set to field Tshwane Deputy Mayor Nasiphi Moya for the mayoral post.