African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Fikile Mbalula said on Tuesday the approach of the Democratic Alliance (DA) that the ANC should either bring back former Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink or nothing, is not acceptable to the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).

The Tshwane Council is set to elect a new executive mayor on Wednesday, after Brink was removed from office when the ANC and ActionSA joined forces with the Economic Freedom Fighters to vote him out in a motion of no confidence.

Mbalula said the ANC was engaging all political parties that were keen to work with it to set up an “inclusive, viable and effective” coalition government that puts the people of Tshwane first before party political interests.

He explained that the ANC had engaged with the DA in Tshwane, however, there had been no agreement between the parties about what should happen in Tshwane now but it was confident that the Council would elect a new mayor on Wednesday.

“…peddling of misinformation that we have a deal, there is no such. If there is a deal between the DA and all other political parties and the ANC about Tshwane, that will be explained to the public. Because when you get to the coalition, is not an under-table agreement, you need to explain to the people,” Mbalula said.

“We are also discussing a programme that must be rolled out by the new government in the form of comprehensive minimum programme,” he said.

He said by Wednesday evening the ANC would be ready to reveal the developments around the new Tshwane mayor and the executive in relation to the parties the ANC was engaging.

“…and that includes the Democratic Alliance,” he explained.

Mbalula said this evening he was meeting with the ANC structures, highlighting that the ANC did not take decisions for structures.

“…they bring decisions to the floor, and we process them, discuss with them. We are not a dictatorship, we are not autocratic, we engage, but artificial and fake heroism that our structures are independent from us when it comes to decision-making, they vary away from the strategic approach the organisation is taking and are incorrect,” he said.

He said the party would never allow such perceptions to be perpetuated, as they were lies.

He said in its discussions with the structures, the party was also looking at all risks, noting that there were no options in the coalition without risks.

The NWC received a detailed report on Tshwane, which noted the deterioration of service delivery and governance in the city.

“… the NWC fully supports the need to put in place the type of government of local unity that can urgently address the pressing concerns of the people across the City,” Mbalula said, stressing the need for the new government to prioritise all Tshwane residents, and not only some sections of the population.

He said the ANC’s NWC had also noted speculation in the media and on social media regarding the correspondence sent to the party’s Gauteng chairperson Panyaza Lesufi.

The NWC expressed concerns about Lesufi’s public utterances on matters relating to the Government of National Unity and coalitions in local municipalities.

The correspondence deals with internal organisational matters, Mbalula stated and said the NWC condemned “disinformation efforts” that project the ANC in a negative light.

“…unfortunately, because people are ill-disciplined, they have decided to leak the correspondence to their friends in the social media,” he said.