By Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
The DA suffered another blow following the resignation of Councillor Shadrack Mkhonto.
He resigned from the party after twenty years of building the party at the local level.
At the time of going to press, Mkhonto had not publicly resigned.
“Tomorrow I’m going to make it public in the interview on Alex FM,” he told Alex Reporter.
Mkhonto who did his magic in mobilizing party memberships especially the youths for the DA in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg, indicated that he was joining the ActionSA, the party formed by his crony Herman Mashaba.
It was an open secret that the Alex mayor, as Mkhonto is affectionately known, was gonna join the likes of Musi Maimane, Mashaba and John Moodey, who almost left supporters, especially blacks, confused when they re-signed.
Mkhonto argued he was switching flags due to oppression that the DA put on his political career for 20 years.
Based in Alexandra, he is known for prompt response each time residents call with grievances.
He was probably the favorite of many residents, especially in Alexandra, where he helped through the DA.
His active involvement in resolving people’s problems in the communities has earned him numerous awards from the Johannesburg City and organizations.
Certain residents also called him mayor without borders, Gomorra Mascot, The Black Mamba, Alex Mafia, among others.
A mole close to Mkhonto said: “The Alex mayor is not resigning solely from the DA, but he is set to transform his entire branch of DA ward 105 into ActionSA with his activists as supporters.
“The DA section of Ward 105 should be dissolved by this transformation of the DA section by the ‘Gomorrah mascot’ into a new political party (ActionSA).”
Our deep throat further stated that the crossing from Mkhonto to ActionSA was long awaited and that he was already looking forward to touching the ground running.
When Mashaba was the mayor of the city of Johannesburg, Mkhonto worked in close collaboration with him in the growth of the DA.
Mashaba is reported to have said: There was no official word by Mkhonto that he would join ActionSA.
“What I do know is it would be great to have an active member such as Mkhonto in the party.
“I know Mkhonto and worked with him at Alexandra when I was mayor of the city of Johannesburg.”
Mkhonto joined the DA 2000 and ran in the 2002 municipal elections for the position of Ward 107 councillor.
He was subsequently transferred as the DA’s operations manager in 2007 to examine electoral districts such as Midrand, Sandton and Alexandra.
He was DA’s Public Relations from 2011 until now.
Mkhonto was also married to the ANC prior to joining the DA.