The City of Johannesburg is set to elect a new mayor on Friday. The city has been without a mayor for over a week.
Tuesday’s special council sitting was adjourned, without a mayor being elected due to requests from councillors for numerous caucus breaks. Speaker of Council, Coleen Makhubele ended up postponing the voting process.
Last month, Al Jama-ah’s Thapelo Amad resigned from the position, amid fears of a motion of no confidence against him.
City of Joburg set to vote for a new Mayor on Friday
It’s understood five coalition partners met Patriotic Alliance (PA) leaders on Thursday to find a compromise candidate. The PA is a kingmaker in the Council and could insist on its own candidate.
‘Phalatse to retake the reigns’
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng has voiced confidence in its ability to govern the City of Johannesburg, ahead of Friday’s reconvening of a council meeting to elect a new executive mayor.
The Party now wants its candidate, Dr Mpho Phalatse, to retake the reigns as mayor.
DA leader in Gauteng, Solly Msimanga explains, “We know the numbers that we have and these are people that are elected from wards and ballots. We are going to represent the people of JHB. Whether we do it from a government perspective or as the opposition, we are going to put up our candidate and support our candidate and we will take it from there.”
Msimanga adds, “The endless caucuses were called by the current government, or those who were in government now, because they couldn’t find each other and they were busy trying to promise each other heaven and earth, while the Jhb residents continue to be without a government in the municipality and suffer without services being provided. So, I think it is important that the people get to understand what was happening.”
