City of Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba says there is no way that he will serve in a coalition government with the ANC.

Mashaba was speaking to News24 on Saturday following the Democratic Alliance’s ‘Phetogo’ final rally held at the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto.

On Thursday, in an interview with News24, EFF leader Julius Malema said while he was unsure of what partnership models the EFF would adopt after the May 8 elections, he wants to see Mashaba remain in charge of the city.

“I can only be a mayor if I have got the mandate of the majority of the people in council. For as long as it is not the ANC. I don’t want ANC support, I don’t want to be associated with them,” Mashaba said, replying to Malema’s statement.

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He said he would gladly accept support from the EFF as long as it would not associate him with the ANC.  

“I cannot be in the same government with the ANC. That one is not negotiable,” he said.

Mashaba said, since coming into office as mayor, he has always appreciated the “strategic input” the EFF has been giving him. 

“When I prepare a pro-poor budget, I receive strategic input from the EFF because they are more on the ground much more than us as the DA. That is something that I value and respect,” he said.

In the interview with News24, Malema said his party would only ask for mayoral committee posts as it was happy with Mashaba.

“I said to everyone that I am prepared to make Mashaba a mayor of Johannesburg, even with the ANC. If the DA says to hell with you, we are prepared to beg Mashaba to stay on and continue to serve the people of Johannesburg,” he said.

However, Mashaba said it would be unfortunate if the DA would lose support from the EFF as they remained committed to serving the people.

“We would obviously like for the EFF to keep giving us this support, because we as the city of Johannesburg are committed to serving our people. We have committed ourselves to be a pro-poor government,” he said. 

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