The EFF wants the ANC to remove Ekurhuleni executive mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza in return for its continued support in Gauteng.
This follows weeks of strained relations between the two parties after Xhakaza reduced the number of EFF members in his mayoral committee and took back the position of council speaker that had been allocated to the EFF under the parties’ co-governing agreement.
The red berets have previously threatened to withdraw support for the ANC in councils they co-govern and for Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi’s minority government in the provincial legislature.
This week, the EFF’s Gauteng provincial leader, Nkululeko Dunga, told the Sunday Times that the only way to restore the relationship is for Xhakaza to resign.
“We have engaged them. They have come to us following the fallout we are experiencing as a result of the extremely arrogant and inconsiderate collective led by Xhakaza,” he said.
“We say this because we had established co-governance principles that would have stabilised the city; we had leadership. It is due to his competence and ill decision-making, which have been thoroughly raised with the ANC.”
The EFF has decided to choose itself. The notion that the EFF is arrogant and has a hardened position needs to be dispelled. It’s very far from the truth
— Nkululeko Dunga
The first cracks emerged when Xhakaza fired Dunga as the mayoral committee member (MMC) responsible for finance in 2024.
In December, when council speaker Nthabiseng Tshivhenga of the EFF was redeployed from Ekurhuleni to the Gauteng legislature, the ANC contested and won the position, effectively taking it back from the EFF.
Recently, Xhakaza reshuffled his mayoral committee, reducing EFF positions from five to two and offering one of the positions to ActionSA, which is not part of the governing coalition. The EFF rejected the two positions and walked away from the mayoral committee. ActionSA also declined the offer to serve in the local executive.
Dunga said that in discussions with the ANC, the EFF had made it clear that Xhakaza was at the centre of the dispute.
“We have interactions from time to time with the ANC leadership. There are co-governance principles that we established, not only in the City of Ekurhuleni, which have ultimately collapsed.”
The provincial leader said it was immaterial that the ANC might not want to be told what to do with its deployees.
“The ANC will obviously take a posture of saying you cannot dictate to us what must happen.”
He said that when Xhakaza previously faced a motion of no confidence, the EFF supported him because of the agreements it had with the ANC.
“The EFF has decided to choose itself. The notion that the EFF is arrogant and has a hardened position needs to be dispelled. It’s very far from the truth,” said Dunga.
The Ekurhuleni situation is understood. It cannot be collateral for other municipalities while we are regressing in governance. No single municipality must be used as a bargaining chip for another
— Nkosindiphile Xhakaza
Despite calls for his removal, Xhakaza insists he will not be pushed out because of another party’s demands.
“If they want me to resign, I can resign. But I am not going to resign because of the EFF. The EFF holds no brief for me,” he said.
“When I came here, I was elected by all other parties except the EFF, which did not want to support me. They were still supporting a minority mayor. It took ANC councillors to revolt against the province, and then I came through.”
Xhakaza insists that his actions were canvassed with the ANC’s top leadership at the provincial and national levels.
“The Ekurhuleni situation is understood. It cannot be collateral for other municipalities while we are regressing in governance. No single municipality must be used as a bargaining chip for another.
“If the province wants the rot to continue in Ekurhuleni, they will protect these ones. They know how we arrived where we are. They themselves chose a path away from the national outlook.
“We cannot now be confined to that path even if it is not working and has caused so much pain in Ekurhuleni. We are forging a path here with parties who want to work.”
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