“I’ve got a strong name, I’ve got a strong brand, I’ve delivered things in the local government that no other leaders in this country have delivered in the space of time I’ve been there.”
With these words, former Action SA Gauteng chairperson Bongani Baloyi, who resigned from the party yesterday, delivered his parting shot.
Baloyi announced his resignation citing a decision by party president Herman Mashaba to remove him as Gauteng leader to become national spokesperson as the cause.
He was immediately replaced by Funzi Ngobeni who was installed by Mashaba.
He said he had proven to anybody beyond any doubt that young people can lead.
“So, I can’t then be relegated somewhere because no process to justify nothing, no accusation put to me, nothing at all but just a decision.
Baloyi said he had been calling for Gauteng to obtain more power by being empowered to discipline councillors, take charge of provincial lists and strengthen the constitution of the party.
He is the fourth senior leader to exit the party after Makhosi Khoza who was expelled in March last year following a fallout with the national leaders, former Tshwane MMC Abel Tau was dismissed in November and most recently, Nkele Molapo whose membership was terminated on Sunday.
“I was intentional to take a posture insofar as national leadership to say to them, devolve more power to the structures. Devolving more power to the structures means embarking on a journey to start democratisation within the party where it’s no longer senate meeting, about Gauteng issues without Gauteng engaging on those issues.
“Gauteng took an uncomfortable position to persuade and that position may have created tension,” Baloyi said.
He said he was called to a meeting attended by Mashaba, Michael Beaumont and Eastern Cape chair Athol Trollip where the party’s president told him he did not trust him.
“Mashaba said there were irreconcilable differences between us and could no longer work with me. He then also said he had problems with how I have been managing the province.
“And also that there was a petition from some of the council colleagues to disband the REC and when there’s something like that it becomes the purview of the provincial executive committee to deal with it,” he said.
“I was baffled at that moment because I could not understand how in one breath he could say there was a trust deficit and in the other say we should work in such close proximity.”
PODCAST | EXPLAINED: Why Bongani Baloyi resigned from ActionSA and what the repercussions are
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