Johannesburg- It took a single vote caused by the absence of the DA councillor Retief Odendaal for the ANC-led coalition government to emerge victoriously and formed a minority government at Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.
The ANC’s Eugene Johnson won with 60 votes against the DA’s Nqaba Bhanga who got 59 votes.
Although it is not yet clear how the political parties voted, it appears that the majority of the smaller parties deserted the DA except for the ACDP and VF-Plus.
It also looks like the eight EFF councillors in the metro voted in favour of the DA-led coalition.
The first signs emerged on Friday when the leader of the Northern Alliance, Gary van Niekerk said his party was not happy that the DA wanted to grant the Speaker role to the Abantu Integrity Movement led by Mkhuseli Jack.
It has also been reported that the DA didn’t want to give away the Speak position to any of the parties.
Van Niekerk has been voted as the Speaker of the Council with 60 votes against DA’s Ryno Kayser who got 59 votes.
The ANC candidates Buyelwa Mafaya and Wandisile Jikeka were elected unopposed for the role of the deputy mayor and the chief whip of the council respectively.
Photo Captions: Newly elected Nelson Mandela Bay Deputy Mayor Buyelwa Mafaya [with red top] and the newly elected Executive Mayor Eugene Johnson
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