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From Friday, for the first time in the history of South Africa, Johannesburg will be run by a minority party, Al Jama-ah.
This is after the ANC and the EFF failed to reach an agreement on who should lead the city, after the ousting of mayor Mpho Phalatse-Malada through a motion of no confidence on Thursday afternoon.
They reached a compromise to support an Al Jama-ah councillor as the mayoral candidate.
The deal was reached immediately after Phalatse-Malada was voted out.
The African Independent Congress (AIC) tabled a motion of no confidence against Phalatse-Malada.
Despite the multiparty coalition government voting in her favour, Phalatse-Malada fell short when 140 councillors voted for her ousting, while 129 councillors voted against the motion to remove her.
READ: Phalatse's future in hands of 'uncooperative' DA, as motion of no confidence looms
Her removal led to the ANC, EFF and other minority parties bursting out in songs celebrating her removal.
This was the third time that a motion of no confidence had been tabled against Phalatse-Malada.
Last year, Phalatse-Malada was removed through a motion, but she challenged it at the Johannesburg High Court. The court ruled in her favour that her removal was unlawful and ordered her to be reinstated.
During her brief removal, ANC councillor Dada Morero was voted in as the new mayor but later resigned after the court ruling.
After Phalatse-Malada’s removal, the DA refused to vote for the new mayor, arguing that their councillors didn’t have their identity documents with them to participate in the voting process.
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Speaker Colleen Makhubele was forced to postpone the voting of the new mayor to Friday, arguing that she did not want to have another court case challenging the voting for the mayor.
The proceeding was postponed to Friday, with the voting of the new mayor as the first item on the council agenda.
City Press understands that the DA tried to convince the Patriotic Alliance (PA) to vote with them, but their offer was rejected.
PA deputy president Kenny Kunene said that, late on Thursday, the DA had given them an offer including four portfolios, but they had rejected it.
He said they felt disrespected by the DA after negotiations that lasted for two weeks.
Kunene mentioned:
ActionSA blamed the DA for the ousting of Phalatse-Malada.
"Since the start of this coalition, ActionSA has borne the responsibility to keep this coalition together. Speaker, the people of Johannesburg are very much aware that ActionSA has done everything in its power to defend and keep this multiparty government of the people, going," said ActionSA caucus spokesperson Sthembelo Majola.
READ: Mpho Phalatse has the last laugh
He said his party had exhausted all its efforts in trying to save this government.
"This motion of no confidence in her worship, Dr Mpho Phalatse, who still enjoys our full confidence, is going to succeed. It is going to succeed, Speaker, not because we have neglected her; it is going to succeed not because other coalition partners within the multiparty government have neglected her; it will succeed because the DA has neglected her. It is the DA that has betrayed the multiparty coalition," said Majola.
The ANC in Gauteng released a statement welcoming the removal of Phalatse-Malada.
ANC provincial secretary Thembinkosi Nciza said the motion, which was supported by the majority of the council, was supported by the ANC caucus and other parties as a mechanism of rescuing the municipality from the maladministration of the DA-led multiparty government.
Nciza said:
"While the latter had adopted pro-poor policies that sought to improve the lives of the poor in the city, with townships and informal settlements being specifically targeted for developmental initiatives, the DA-led multiparty government had maintained the stance of hurling the poor at the margins," said Nciza.
