ANC never loved Mashaba’s xenophobic backward policies: Mbalula

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The ANC has taken a jab at ActionSA and its leader Herman Mashaba over his open rejection of forming a coalition government with the ANC in the municipalities where the governing party failed to secure a clear majority.

The ANC’s top brass is busy hatching plans on how it would secure coalition agreements with some of the parties in municipalities where it failed to win.

While Mashaba accused one of the party’s officials of having approached him and asked for coalition support, ANC elections head Fikile Mbalula blasted him as a “showman” for openly rejecting the party ahead of the intense horse-trading that was expected to ensue among political parties.

“Who said we love him? We have never loved him. His policies are backward and we would only engage him if he was interested, but are [also] not interested if people think we are interested in them,” Mbalula said.

Mbalula said the ANC was grateful of the electoral outcomes despite being pushed out of a clear victory. Things could have been worse for the party, which was “confronted by a host of grievances from our people in terms of service delivery”.

“We take what we get. It is not a decisive majority that we wanted… We are not politically obliterated, we are not annihilated. That could have happened,” he said.

Mbalula also blamed the short period of campaigning and wrongdoing by local ANC leaders for the poor electoral performance. “We had to do all of this within a month and we looked like visitors to our people instead of residents, and some of our public representatives did not do as good and that is why we see the results,” he said.

ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile insisted that the party was not desperate, despite having failed to reclaim Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.

“Those who want to work with us, our doors are open. Those who are saying no-no to the ANC, we will not chase them,” Mashatile said.

Mashatile said the party was planning to hold an extended national executive committee on Friday where it would discuss and finalise its approach to the coalition, which are set to cut across six of the country’s metros as well as many local municipalities.

He said the ANC would use its coalition experience in Johannesburg and Tshwane to try and create stable coalitions.

–-SowetanLive