Mashaba offers DA the Joburg mayor's chair if Zille steps aside

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has offered the DA the Johannesburg mayor's chair, on condition that both he and the DA's Helen Zille drop out as mayoral candidates. In return, he wants the DA to back ActionSA's Nasiphi Moya as mayor of Tshwane.

The offer is in a letter to DA federal leader Geordin Hill-Lewis dated 7 November, which the Sunday Times has seen. DA leaders quoted anonymously by the paper said the party was unlikely to accept the terms as they stand.

What exactly is Mashaba proposing?

Source: Sunday Times, reporting on Mashaba's letter of 7 November 2026.

Mashaba wrote that past co-operation between the parties had led to "a long-term breakdown of trust", but that this should not stop talks that "could provide relief to the long-suffering residents of Gauteng". He said a shared programme of government and other terms would be negotiated once the leadership questions were settled, and that the DA was free to put forward its own proposal (Sunday Times).

How has the DA responded?

There is no official DA reply in the reports so far. A DA leader told the Sunday Times that the party chose its mayoral candidates through "a stringent process" and that, as the biggest party in the Gauteng metros, it could not let a smaller party dictate internal matters. The same leader said a power-sharing deal was "still on the cards" and that the DA would negotiate in good faith.

Would a DA and ActionSA deal have enough seats?

Only in Tshwane. On the final seat figures, the two parties together fall short in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni.

Seats from Rateweb, using IEC results files at 100% counted: Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni. The IEC results dashboard has the official figures.

In Johannesburg the pair would need just 2 more seats, which the VF Plus (5) or the Patriotic Alliance (5) could supply. In Ekurhuleni they would need 7 more, and the VF Plus's 11 seats would get them there (Rateweb). We set out every combination in our Gauteng coalition maths explainer.

Is ActionSA talking to anyone else?

Yes. ActionSA met the ANC on Sunday and the EFF on Monday, IOL reported, and the EFF and MK Party have appointed negotiating teams. The ANC has centralised its own coalition talks under secretary-general Fikile Mbalula (EWN).

Stellenbosch University's Dr Lungelwa Keywood told IOL that deals struck by national negotiators don't legally bind councillors when they vote in council (IOL).

When do Gauteng's metros have to pick mayors?

Each new council must hold its first meeting within 14 days of the IEC declaring the results, whether or not a coalition deal is done. At that meeting the municipal manager presides over the election of a speaker, who then oversees the election of the mayor (IOL; Municipal Structures Act, section 29). With results declared on 8 November, that points to 22 November 2026 (Inside Politics).