The Economic Freedom Fighters on Sunday accused an African National Congress Johannesburg mayoral committee member of offering cash to opposition parties to ensure that the ANC retains the Johannesburg metro ahead of the much anticipated first council sitting on Monday.
EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi claimed that the mayoral committee member had been calling members of the EFF offering them as much as R500,000 in exchange for a vote for the ANC at Monday’s council sitting. His party would open a criminal case against the member, he said.
“The EFF in Johannesburg will be opening a case of bribery against the ANC’s [member] who thinks our democracy is up for sale. The ANC in Johannesburg must know that no amount of bribery will ever reconcile you with the people who rejected you in a popular vote. The ANC must concede defeat and not try win elections through corruption,” Ndlozi said.
“Even if the ANC were to be successful on Monday to buy any councillor candidate, their mayor will not last because political parties have the right to replace councillors. We will therefore do so and ensure that the ANC is out of power in Johannesburg.”
Parties in Johannesburg are set to elect a mayor and speaker after the August 3 local government elections that saw the ANC lose ground and fail to secure an outright majority to govern the country’s financial capital. The metro is poised to be snatched by the Democratic Alliance, which on Friday also took over the capital city Tshwane from the governing party.
The ANC won 121 seats in Johannesburg against the DA’s 104. The EFF, dubbed “the kingmaker” in the country’s highly contested local polls, won 30 seats. The rest of the 270 council seats went to smaller parties.
On Sunday, ANC mayoral candidate Parks Tau said although he might no longer be the mayor, his party was ready to occupy the opposition party benches in the metro. He told reporters that coalition talks with opposition parties were still ongoing, and that the outcome would be revealed on Monday.
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