ANC bid for a comeback at three municipalities fails
No-confidence motion in Joburg mayor also flops
The ANC’s campaign to launch a comeback at three contested municipalities has been a spectacular failure.
The political setbacks come just three weeks before the governing party is to go to its most contested elective national conference ever.
The ANC failed to unseat Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba and speaker Vasco da Gama last night in the country’s financial capital that it lost after last year’s municipal poll, where it got about 45% of the vote.
The motion of no confidence against Mashaba, which was conducted via a show of hands last night, was defeated after 140 councillors voted against it. Only 121 councillors voted in favour.
Motivating for the motion earlier, ANC councillor Geoff Makhubo said the DA-led administration under the former businessman was on the brink of a financial collapse.
“The consequences are going to be dire for residents of Johannesburg. We raised the issue in May and June but all we get [is] that it was a sabotage,” Makhubo said.
The ANC also blamed DA leaders for the chaos that sometimes characterise council meetings and for purging staff members who are seen to be sympathetic towards the former governing party.
Mayoral committee member Funzela Ngobeni disagreed, and instead blamed the ANC’s mismanagement for the city’s financial woes. The motion, he said, was a cheap publicity stunt.
Earlier, EFF leader Julius Malema took to social media to warn Johannesburg ANC leader and former mayor Parks Tau that “he will not be a mayor of Johannesburg again”. It was seen as an indication that the EFF would not be supporting the motions of no confidence against the two DA mayors in Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay.
Meanwhile, Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip also successfully fended off attempts to oust him from his position. The motion, which had the backing of the ANC, was submitted by Patriotic Front councillor Marlon Daniels and seconded by ousted former deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani.
Trollip got 65 votes against 54. He expressed pleasure that he had weathered the storm and said he was looking forward to the next four years.
In Free State, Metsimaholo local municipality is likely to be a hung council as there is no outright winner.
By last night, the ANC was said to have 15 ward seats and the DA six. The council was dissolved in terms of section 139 (4) of the constitution after it failed to pass its budget.
The results for the 21 proportional representation seats were still outstanding. The results from a single ward in Zamdela township are being disputed, and that is expected to delay the allocation of proportional representation seats.
The IEC is expected to order a re-run in the disputed ward.
Elsewhere, Eastern Cape ANC branches have highly favoured Cyril Ramaphosa to lead the party after 423 of 526 branches voted for him. Second was Nkosazana DlaminiZuma with 89 nominations.
‘‘ Motion defeated as 140 councillors voted against it ... 121 voted in favour