Gayton McKenzie has withdrawn from the race to become mayor of Johannesburg, the Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader confirmed on Wednesday.
This after the DA requested McKenzie to be lenient with illegal immigrants.
The outgoing mayor of Central Karoo district said he would rather forfeit his Johannesburg mayoral candidacy than tone down the criticism of illegal immigration.
“They [the DA] indeed told me that, hence I withdrew my candidacy. I unfortunately cannot become mayor without DA support,” said McKenzie.
“I had to choose [between] a mayoral position and fighting illegal immigration and I decided to continue my stance on illegal immigration and forget about being a mayor.”
The City of Johannesburg mayorship is not yet vacant, however, Thapelo Amad is expected to be ousted through a motion of no confidence soon.
The motion was brought by ActionSA in support of the DA.
Last week, ActionSA expressed disappointment in Amad, saying he has been dismal during his short time in office. It further accused him of being unable to articulate a coherent plan of action and vision for the City of Johannesburg.
“Mayor Amad, an expedient candidate between the ANC and EFF coalition of doom, has repeatedly proven to be woefully ill-equipped and unable to articulate a coherent plan of action and vision for the City of Johannesburg,” said ActionSA.
McKenzie subsequently announced his intention to become mayor, committing his party to voting in favour of ActionSA’s motion of no confidence against Amad.
“The Patriotic Alliance will vote in favour of ActionSA’s motion of no confidence against Joburg mayor Thapelo Amad,” said McKenzie at the time.
“We do this not for ourselves but because the residents deserve better. We voted for this man, which may be forgivable. To not remove him now would be unforgivable.
“If the DA, Freedom Front Plus, IFP, ACDP, UIM and others support the removal of Amad, we will need to elect a new mayor.
McKenzie’s announcement came after Amad received a backlash for revealing his involvement in procuring a R9.5-billion loan for the city.
The motion against Amad’s leadership will be debated in council on April 25.
McKenzie said his withdrawal from the race to become mayor does not change his party’s position for the removal of Amad from office.
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