Joburg council remains hung
JOBURG – Elections are over, results are in but what does it all mean for Joburg City Council?
With the dust slowly settling following the Municipal Elections, the picture is still not clear on which party will run the administration of the City of Johannesburg.
None of the political parties that contested the elections managed to scoop the 50 plus one percent that is required to lead the City Council which has left a hung council.
The ANC garnered the majority of votes on the City Council, putting them in the lead with 44.55 percent which secured them 121 seats. The DA followed with 38.37 percent of the votes, securing 104 seats. The EFF, which was contesting the Local Municipal Elections for the first time, garnered 11.09 percent of the votes and managed to get 30 seats.
Coalition talks have started between the various political parties and things might go either way. With coalitions, political parties might manage to gain the 50 plus one percent that is needed to run a majority government. Parties have 14 days after the official results announcement to form coalitions.
The leader of the DA, Mmusi Maimane has already stipulated that his party was willing to go into a coalition with any political party.
The EFF has stated that it was also open to coalition discussions with any political party but party leader, Julius Malema had previously stated that his party would never go into a coalition with the ANC. “We want to put the ANC out of power, we will never go into any coalition with them,” he had said earlier.
Should political parties currently in negotiations not come to an agreement on a coalition government, a minority government could be constituted by either the leading party or a coalition of parties without the majority.
A minority government does not have absolute power and can only pass resolutions with the support or concurrence of other members/parties in the City Council.
