Non-governmental organisation AfriForum said certain parties’ interests prevailed on Thursday over the interests of Pretoria residents, saying a “do-it-yourself approach” is more important than ever to save communities.

Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink was removed from office after the African National Congress (ANC) and ActionSA joined forces, with the help of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), to vote him out in a motion of no confidence against him.

“When party politics disappoint, only ‘we will do it ourselves’ remains as the way to cleaner, safer and better communities. The time is now for residents of Pretoria who want to make a real difference to join their nearest AfriForum branch,” explained AfriForum head of public relations Ernst van Zyl.

He said earlier this month, the organisation handed over a petition, which rejected the possibility of an ANC-EFF coalition, to the chairperson of the coalition committee in the Tshwane metro Finance MEC Jacqui Uys, as well as other representatives of the coalition, at the Metro Council’s headquarters, Tshwane House.

Van Zyl said the petition was signed by about 17 000 residents of Pretoria.

Earlier this month, Van Zyl said the Tshwane Metro would once again fall into disarray if the current ruling coalition fell apart, and that should there be political instability again it would undoubtedly contribute to the poor performance of the municipality.