Zille rolls out red carpet for ActionSA defectors as Mashaba threatens to fire rogue members

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has given a stern warning to “rogue” members of his party in the Johannesburg caucus. This comes after one of ActionSA’s councillors, Mandla Nyaqela, and 31 other branch members from Soweto defected to the DA. They were welcomed into the DA by Helen Zille at an event held in Dobsonville on Thursday.

The group reportedly sent their termination-of-membership letters to ActionSA on Thursday morning. “One thing that they must know is that if you do not carry out your public responsibility and you carry yourself in a way that compromises our party, we will not tolerate that,” Mashaba said on Thursday. Mashaba said he had been informed that three councillors were absent at a Johannesburg council meeting on Thursday.

He said the party will look at their reasons for being absent. Meanwhile, he said he is not surprised that Nyaqela had joined the DA. “He was facing a disciplinary hearing already,” he said.

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According to Mashaba, Nyaqela had been arrested for gender-based violence (GBV) during a council meeting last year. He said there were other incidents of misconduct against him as well. “We are happy for Helen to take himand his friends,” he said.

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