Doreen Mokgolo
Residents of Ekurhuleni Metro will have to wait another week before a new mayor is elected after a chaotic council sitting on Wednesday had to be postponed.
The municipality has been without a mayor since last week after the DA’s Tania Campbell was ousted in a motion of no confidence last Thursday.
The City’s council sitting to elect a mayor on Wednesday was abandoned after the meeting was disrupted when the EFF and ANC requested time to caucus.
The Independent Citizens Movement’s Joe Mojapelo, along with a number of other political parties, proposed that the sitting be adjourned until a later date.
The speaker of the council, Raymond Dhlamini, said he had to adjourn the meeting to ensure the correct procedures are followed to avoid a repeat of whst happened in Johannesburg.
In Joburg, the Gauteng High Court declared a meeting which voted to oust DA Mayor Mpho Phalatse as unlawful, unconstitutional and the mayor was reinstated.
“When the meeting was supposed to be resumed, some of the councillors were not back in council chambers so we had to adjourn the sitting for a later date,” he explained.
ANC Gauteng chairperson Panyaza Lesufi confirmed that they are at the tail end of negotiations with the EFF.
“The discussions are robust but we have agreed to meet each other halfway; we are just waiting for the party principals to approve what we have agreed on.
“The ANC will not be contesting for the position of the mayor and will be voting with the EFF in this regard,” he said.
However, he refused to confirm speculation that the ANC will vote with the EFF in Ekurhuleni in exchange for the mayoral position in Johannesburg, once the ANC tables a motion of no confidence against the sitting DA mayor.
The ANC chairperson in Ekurhuleni, Mzwandile Masina, confirmed that he will not be contesting the position of mayor after talks that the Ekurhuleni region had put him forward to stand for the position.
“I will not be standing or accepting any position but will remain as an ordinary councillor,” he said.
Leader of the DA in the Gauteng Legislature, Solly Msimanga, refuted claims that there is instability in the multiparty coalition and that ActionSA intends to field its own mayoral candidate.
“We are not aware of such intentions as we all agreed last night that our mayor candidate is Tania Campbell.
“ActionSA has not made such an announcement to us and as it stands we are all still on the same page,” he added.
Pictured above: Speaker of council Raymond Dhlamini
Image Credit: Doreen Mokgolo