Mashaba

Herman Mashaba accused of being race-baiting on Twitter. Photo: Herman Mashaba / @HermanMashaba / Twitter

Herman Mashaba channels his inner Kermit the Frog in toast to the ANC

Full of confidence after surviving a third vote of no confidence, Herman Mashaba took time out of his day to toast the party who brought the motion.

Mashaba

Herman Mashaba accused of being race-baiting on Twitter. Photo: Herman Mashaba / @HermanMashaba / Twitter

Clearly emboldened by surviving the African National Congress (ANC) motion of no confidence, Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba took to social media to toast the ruling party in a very familiar way.

Mashaba is no stranger to votes of no confidence against him. In fact, this is the third time he has beaten this challenge.

The campaign against him has been so intense that the party he represents, the Democratic Alliance (DA), felt the need to launch a campaign called #HandsOffMashaba.

The reason for the vote of no confidence in Herman Mashaba

The most recent motion of no confidence seems to have been prompted by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) removing its support for DA in the province.

The DA won the City of Johannesburg with the support of the EFF, and the removal of their support left the DA with just 114 seats out of 270 in the municipal chambers and making Mashaba vulnerable.

The day before, the ANC claimed to have the votes of 145 councillors, which would have been enough to see the motion passed.

However, it appears the failure to reach an understanding with members of the Inkatha Freedom Party on the day resulted in the motion being withdrawn.

“Feeling very angry. Not for myself. It’s about 35 000 employees of Joburg who deserve stability,” he told eNCA after learning the motion had been withdrawn.

“I don’t see the reason why they didn’t go ahead with the motion. They must have failed to get the numbers, perhaps CR17 couldn’t buy them the necessary voters. Maybe they failed to come up with the money.”

Herman Mashaba

Mashaba’s toast to the ANC

Later in the day, having come to terms with the news, Mashaba took to Twitter to poke fun at the ANC once again and ended up resembling a certain character from TV show The Muppets.

ANC already planning another motion of no confidence

Unfortunately for Mashaba, this is not the end of the story as the ANC has already said it will be reinstating its vote of no confidence in September.

He also took issue with the actions of the ANC’s Jolidee Matongo, who accused him of favouring the EFF before handing him EFF t-shirt.

“The ANC accuses me of all sorts. They’ve secured so much from their own patronage network. Where our government can intervene, we will intervene – it’s not about EFF or DA policies. It’s irresponsible and arrogant to say I am an EFF Mayor,” Mashaba said.

Herman Mashaba