Herman Mashaba, soon to be former Johannesburg Mayor , has resigned as a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA) and will no longer serve as the mayor of Joburg. 

Mashaba announced his resignation on Monday at a press conference where he spoke of the difficulty of deciding to resign from the DA. 

His decision comes following the DA’s federal council conference, which saw the election of former Western Cape premier Helen Zille as the DA’s federal council chair. 

Mashaba pointed to Zille’s win as the reason behind his decision to step down, specifically what he calls a “win” by those within the DA who have broadly stood against his pro-poor policies. 

He said it was not in his nature to quit especially as a businessman but insists he had no choice.

“It is for this reason that I have called this conference to announce my resignation from the DA. I will no longer serve as a counsellor and as such cannot be mayor. It is not in my nature to quit anything in life. I cannot be a willing participant in a process that is against the needs of the people of this city. I have had to choose between my party and my country,” Mashaba said. 

“I am forced to choose between my party and country, I will always choose my country first.”

Mashaba ended his speech by boasting about his mayorship and the achievements which included the insourcing of workers in the city. 

“Our multi-party partnership has achieved a lot”.  

Mashaba is likely to serve as mayor until end of November to allow for a successor to be found.