The Johannesburg City Council will on Friday elect a new mayor following the ousting of Mpho Phalatse on at a council sitting on Thursday.
Phalatse lost her mayorship when 140 council members voted in favour of her removal after the minority parties including the African Transformation Movement, African Independent Congress, and Al Jama-ah tabled a motion of no confidence in her leadership.
One-hundred-and-twenty-nine members voted against the motion and there were no abstentions.
Phalatse has been in the ring with council members over the mayorship battle for the past couple of months, after she was ousted through another motion of no confidence in September 2022.
She dragged the matter to court, where she contested the constitutionality of the manner in which the sitting that facilitated her removal was convened, arguing that the meeting was convened in an irregular manner and disputed the election of ANC’s Dada Morero as the new mayor.
After Phalatse was returned to office by the court, another motion was tabled. However, it was put off the agenda after she threatened to take legal action against the speaker of council Colleen Makhubele, alleging that she was harming the integrity of the city.
Phalatse’s demise on Thursday was enabled by her party, the DA, which failed to secure the Patriotic Alliance’s (PA) support in council. The DA-led multi-party coalition needed eight seats to save Phalatse from being booted out. However, talks broke down and the PA voted against her.
ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont confirmed earlier on Thursday that Phalatse’s fate was hanging by a thread, after a fallout between the DA and PA.
“Following further negotiations between the Patriotic Alliance and the governing coalition in Johannesburg, ActionSA can confirm that talks have failed, and the multi-party coalition will face a motion of no confidence without the majority to defend mayor Mpho Phalatse,” said Beaumont early on Thursday.
“As a consequence, it seems certain that the motion of no confidence will succeed and the coalition in Johannesburg will fall.
“Final negotiations ultimately failed because the DA refused to listen to coalition partners who urged that the original proposal, agreed to by all the parties [including the DA] and accepted by the PA, should be honoured.
“This proposal would have restored the majority of the coalition, defeating the motion of no confidence and delivering some semblance of stability in Johannesburg.
“The actions of the DA reveal an organisation that did not want these negotiations to succeed. Rather than honouring a universally accepted proposal, the DA sought to brand the PA as corrupt.”
Sunday World understands that councillor Thapelo Amad from Al-Jama-Ah is set to stand as mayor on an interim basis. The ANC’s Morero will also be contesting to be elected mayor. Phalatse said after she was ousted that she will raise her hand again.
“We will elect a new mayor tomorrow and I will put my hand up again … that is democracy,” said Phalatse.
Also read: Mpho Phalatse finally dethroned as mayor of Johannesburg
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