A day after his party decided to stand with the African National Congress (ANC) to oust Tshwane's Democratic Alliance (DA) Mayor Cilliers Brink, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba, on Friday, accused the DA of jeopardising the coalition in the City by seeking a “covert alliance” with the ANC.

On Thursday, ActionSA had said it would join the ANC, the African Christian Democratic Party and the Economic Freedom Fighters, to vote out Brink through a motion of no confidence.

The ANC has since, temporarily, withdrawn the motion.

ActionSA, which is in a coalition with the DA in Tshwane, said it “appreciated” the ANC’s withdrawal of the motion, as it allowed the party enough time to conclude an internal review of its position within the multi-party coalition in the City.

On Thursday, Brink had hit back at ActionSA following an announcement of the party's support for the ANC’s motion of no confidence against him.

“I’ve just learnt that ActionSA’s Tshwane caucus leader has told media outside Tshwane House that the party is leaving the Tshwane Multi-Party Coalition. I haven’t received any notice to this effect, but in light of what has happened up to this point I can only assume that this is the party’s position. A coalition that is making progress brought down for no clear reason. A betrayal of coalition partners and the people of Tshwane. Sabotaging the builders to let in the breakers,” Brink said on X, on Thursday.

On Friday, Mashaba said the DA was “falsely” accusing ActionSA of the very actions the DA “repeatedly demonstrated themselves to be guilty of”.

“South Africans, particularly the residents of Tshwane, should be aware of the fact that the DA has been actively pursuing a covert alliance with the ANC, an effort intended to jeopardise the governing coalition in favour of their desire to consolidate an exclusive arrangement with the ANC. Accusing us of disloyalty while engaging in such deceitful tactics is both shameful and hypocritical,” he said.

Mashaba also accused the DA of a lack of service delivery focus in Tshwane townships and emphasised his party’s review of its participation in the Tshwane coalition with the DA.

“Perhaps through reflection, the DA might diagnose their glaring hypocrisy, which we believe stems from an insatiable quest for power, driven by shallowness, deceit, and an overcompensating superiority complex,” he said.

Mashaba described ActionSA as an “independent political party” and said its processes would continue without “undue external interference”.

“ActionSA is not in the business of interfering in the affairs of other political parties and will maintain this courtesy and ensure that we continue to engage transparently on every issue of importance to South Africans, regardless of whether others choose to extend the same respect,” Mashaba said.