The National Freedom Party (NFP) in Gauteng says the resignation of former Johannesburg Mayor, Herman Mashaba, is a huge loss to the residents of the City.
This after the Democratic Alliance’s Mashaba announced his resignation as the Mayor of the City and as a member of the party. It follows the election of Helen Zille as the DA’s Federal Council Chairperson on Sunday.
NFP Provincial Chairperson, Muziwendoda Majola, describes Mashaba as pro-poor and hardworking. He says it’s a pity internal party politics had led to this point. ” We don’t see the reason why Mashaba has to resign. It means there is a pressure on top of Mashaba. People of Gauteng will not tolerate this behaviour of these people who are trying to have problems in their party since Mashaba is a black mayor. I think that’s where the problem lies with the DA.”
The African National Congress (ANC) Regional Secretary in Johannesburg, Dada Morero, has described Mashaba’s resignation as unsurprising.
Morero says talks on choosing a new Mayor is expected to begin on Tuesday.
“We are not surprised as the ANC, we expected that he will never finish his term and being a mayor of a city like Johannesburg is not so easy. We still maintain as the ANC that he is misleading the residents of Joburg and at some point, the reports of National Treasury will prove that the ANC has been correct all along to say the finances of the city are in dire straits. We have been invited to a meeting by our PEC where discussions will start taking place tomorrow,” says Morero.
WATCH | ANC’s Dada Morero reacts to Mashaba’s resignation
Meanwhile, DA leader, Mmusi Maimane, says Mashaba made Johannesburg a better place than it was under the ANC.
“There can be no doubt that JHB is a better place today than it was under the ANC. And for the members of staff here working under the difficult coalition arrangements, it is a better place to work under than it was under the ANC. That is fair to say. I want to thank you, not only as a resident of JHB, but as a South African. Thank you for always driving the ambition to serve our country and the people. And our paths together will continue to charter a journey of building this one SA. God Bless you.”
Watch related video:
