Premier warns metro’s parties
‘I’LL INTERVENE’: NEW JOBURG MAYOR MUST BE ELECTED TODAY TO AVOID CHAOS – MAKHURA
Election postponed last week amid disagreement over what constitutes a majority.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura is warning he will intervene and take over the City of Joburg if a new mayor is not elected today and the city remains dysfunctional.
This comes after a council sitting last Thursday at which a new mayor was to be elected was postponed. This was due to differences over what entailed a majority vote.
“The provincial government will continue to intervene in municipalities affected by governance chaos and maladministration to ensure service delivery is not affected and residents do not suffer,” Makhura said.
MEC for human settlements, urban planning and cooperative governance and traditional affairs Lebogang Maile has urged Joburg speaker Vasco da Gama, to convene a meeting with the whips of all parties ahead of the council meeting.
Maile said he was concerned about the state of affairs in the city after the council failed to elect a new executive mayor last week.
“As the MEC responsible for local government in Gauteng, the current state of affairs is of great concern to me and, no doubt, to the residents of the city,” Maile said.
Political analyst Somadoda Fikeni said there was a possibility the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) would work together to find common ground.
“We are likely to see last-minute discussions between the two.
“The DA can surrender Tshwane metro, which the EFF would want, but the leadership of the DA may have to step aside for this particular arrangement to work. But any deal that they may come up with is not protected by any future disruptions, considering that we have local elections ahead of us,” Fikeni said.
The election of the mayor was postponed last week because of confusion about what constituted a majority as one of the seats, previously held by the ANC, is vacant. Three candidates will be competing for the mayoral post today. –