ANC’s Eugene Johnson elected Nelson Mandela Bay’s new mayor

The ANC on Monday managed to secure a minority government in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

The party’s mayoral candidate, Eugene Johnson, was elected the new executive mayor of the metro during the inaugural council meeting after the local government elections earlier this month.

The ANC retook control of the metro from the Democratic Alliance (DA) with just one vote after Johnson received 60 votes, beating the DA’s mayoral candidate Nqaba Bhanga, who received 59 votes.

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There were 120 councillors present in council at the Feather Market Centre in Gqeberha.

119 votes were cast and there were no spoiled ballot papers, while one councillor was absent from proceedings.

ANC councillor Buyelwa Mafaya was elected the deputy mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay unopposed. Another ANC councillor, Wandisile Jikeka, was nominated for the position of the chief whip and he was elected unopposed.

Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality was among the 66 hung municipal councils following the local government elections earlier this month. The DA received 39.92% of votes while the ANC got 39.43%.

Council speaker

The president of the Northern Alliance (NA) Gary van Niekerk was elected council speaker by 60 votes, compared to DA’s councillor Rano Kayser, who got 59 votes.

This is a developing story. More to follow.