The mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay metro, Eugene Johnson, has lost her bid to prevent a motion of no confidence against her.
Johnson petitioned the Gqeberha High Court on Friday for an urgent application that questioned the legitimacy of council speaker, Gary van Niekerk, who presided over a council meeting last week.
Van Niekerk and his colleagues from the Northern Alliance, John Mitchell and Bevan Brown, are fighting off the attempts to remove them as councillors for the Northern Alliance. This as a result of in-fighting in the Northern Alliance.
The trio has obtained a court order that permits them to attend council meetings until the court rules on their legitimacy as party representatives in the council. Van Niekerk was elected as council speaker in an ANC-led coalition government that took over the governance of the metro in November 2021.
However, he could not preside over the council for a few months due to in-fighting in his party, as well as attempts to remove him. But the court order last week paved the way for him to resume his duties as the elected council speaker.
Last week’s council meeting was adjourned before the motion to remove Johnson, her deputy Bulelwa Mafaya and the chief whip Wandisile Jikeka was carried out, and the sitting was rescheduled to Wednesday.
In the meantime, Johnson tried to have the court declare Van Niekerk illegitimate, thus nullifying all the decisions taken during last week’s council meeting, including the rescheduling of a meeting to Wednesday, but judge Vuyokazi Noncembu, who presided over the urgent application on Tuesday, dismissed Johnson’s application with costs.
The ANC has lost all of its co-governing allies in the metro to a DA-led coalition that is set to emerge as the governing coalition after a motion of no confidence against Johnson, Mafaya and Jikeka has been carried out successfully.
To read more political news and views, click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
