Ok so it’s not exactly a U-turn, but the Economic Freedom Fighters have given their support to the Democratic Alliance, committing their votes so as to ensure that the DA takes leadership of Johannesburg and Tshwane.
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Malema added that the request to remove Mashaba is not a deal-breaker and DA leader Mmusi Maimane has said that the party will not abuse the electorate by removing a candidate they voted for.
This comes after EFF leader Julius Malema said the red berets don’t want Mashaba as mayor because he hates his black skin and has disrespected poor black people with his capitalist views.
Earlier this year, Mashaba was quoted in a television interview on SABC saying that poor people can not lead because they were susceptible to corruption.
However, EFF secretary-general Godrich Gardee said the EFF was an organisation of principles.
– Herman Mashaba, DA mayoral candidateI don’t think anyone would expect me to respond to such utterances. “We shall stick to it”, Gardee said.
Yesterday Malema first said they were placing a condition on their support for the DA in Johannesburg. “When the people of Johannesburg voted, they voted for Herman Mashaba to be mayor of this city”, he said. We are dealing with big issues here, and the big elephant in the room is the ANC. “We are not going to be sidetracked by small differences on Herman”, he told Iman Rappetti on Power FM on Thursday morning.
To retain a majority in the City of Joburg, the DA would need to get votes from the EFF and other smaller parties.
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He confirmed that the DA would work with the ACDP, the UDM, Cope and the FF Plus to form coalitions, but ruled out the ANC completely. Matongo said the ANC would make an announcement either today or tomorrow.
