WATCH: DA-led coalition confident Cilliers Brink will be elected Tshwane mayor

The Democratic Alliance-led (DA) multiparty coalition in the City of Tshwane is confident that its mayoral candidate, Cilliers Brink, will be elected as the metro’s new executive mayor.

Election of Tshwane mayor

Tshwane councillors on Wednesday will attempt for the second time to elect a mayor for the capital city, following the resignation of the disgraced former mayor, Dr Murunwa Makwarela, who forged his insolvency rehabilitation certificate.

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Last Friday, councillors were expected to elect a new mayor during a special council setting. However, the meeting collapsed after the DA-led coalition staged a walkout due to newly elected council speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana‘s refusal to exclude two former ActionSA councillors from the voting process.

The two ActionSA councillors, Mandla Mhlana and Mpho Baloyi, were fired from the party after its investigations revealed that they defied the party line by voting for Makwarela on 28 February and Ndzwanana on 13 March.

Makwarela is a former councillor and member of the Congress of the People (Cope), while Ndzwanana is a councillor and member of the African Transformation Movement (ATM).

ANC-EFF voting bloc

Speaking to the media outside council chambers before voting for the new mayor could take place, Brink confirmed that the two former ActionSA councillors were replaced due to the termination of their party membership.

Brink said he was confident that the DA and its coalition partners would vote for him. He said the African National Congress (ANC) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) councillors did not have the numbers to elect their referred mayoral candidate.

The ANC and EFF are tipped to back lone-seat Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) councillor, Molwantwa Tshabadi, for the mayoral position.

“We are ready to elect a stable and accountable government for the Capital City today, but at the same time, it’s clear the ANC-EFF voting bloc does not have the numbers,” said Brink.

Brink said the ANC-EFF had requested a two-hour caucus to deliberate on their voting strategy.

He accused ANC Gauteng chair and Premier Panyaza Lesufi of meddling in the election of the new mayor for Tshwane.

“We anticipate that they’ll make every effort to disrupt the council meeting [and] buy time. We also know that Premier Panyaza Lesufi has been making personally every attempt he possibly can to persuade councillors who aren’t here today, to be here. Lesufi must be held accountable.”

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Meanwhile, ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont also agreed that the DA-led coalition had the majority of seats in the council to elect Brink.

“ActionSA is here today in support of our multiparty coalition. I’ve been meeting with the ActionSA caucus, which I’m very pleased to report it’s back to full strength,” he said.

Beaumont added that ActionSA replaced their two councillors with new councillors they could count on this time around.

“We should be anticipating between 108 and 109 votes today in council, and that is a clear majority.”

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