Ekurhuleni special council meeting to elect new mayor postponed

The special council meeting of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality to elect a new mayor has been postponed after a majority of political parties supported a motion to reschedule the sitting.

Ekurhuleni special council meeting

Councillors from the metro were expected on Wednesday to elect a new executive mayor, following the ouster of the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Tania Campbell from office last week, through an ANC-sponsored motion of no confidence.

Campbell is expected to stand again as the DA’s mayoral candidate after she was in power for 11 months.

ALSO READ: Tania Campbell removed as mayor of Ekurhuleni

It’s understood the sitting was deferred after the African National Congress (ANC), the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) all backed the move to cancel the meeting.

Ekurhuleni council Speaker Raymond Dlamini, from the DA, announced that the next council meeting to elect a new mayor would be within seven days’ time.

ANC and EFF negotiations deadlock

This comes after intense negotiations between the ANC and the EFF, on the sidelines of the council meeting, deadlocked over which candidate to back for the mayoral position.

While it was widely anticipated that the ANC would field its Ekurhuleni regional chairperson Mzwandile Masina for the post, he withdrew from the mayoral race.

READ MORE: Mzwandile Masina withdraws from Ekurhuleni mayoral race

Masina was the mayor of Ekurhuleni for five years from 2016 to 2021, under an ANC-led minority multiparty coalition government that included the African Independent Congress (AIC), the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and the Independent Ratepayers Association of South Africa (IRASA).

“Unfortunately, I have served my five-year term and when I attempted my second term, I was defeated. So it’s time to focus on other issues in the movement… the ANC is here and its presence is going to be felt today,” Masina told reporters outside the council chambers in Germiston.

JUST IN | ANC’s Mzwandile Masina reveals he will not be standing as a mayoral candidate for the City of Ekurhuleni.

This paves way for EFF’s Nkululeko Dunga to be elected as mayor. pic.twitter.com/qzWOGb8e4y

— Kgothatso Madisa (@kgmadisa) November 2, 2022

EFF’s Nkululeko Dunga for mayor?

There was speculation that the ANC was expected to vote for the EFF’s Gauteng provincial chairperson, Nkululeko Dunga, to take over the mayoral chain of the metro.

However, it’s understood that the two parties failed to come to an agreement on this, with negotiations over the mayorship reportedly being escalated to the parties’ national leaders.

The EFF and ANC singing together for the very first time ever in the #CityOfEkhuruleni. #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/VcDNPvl9TZ

— #LordOfTheMedia (@samkelemaseko) November 2, 2022

Whatever happens, Ekurhuleni must have a Mayor today, and that will determine what happens in Joburg in the nearest future.

— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) November 2, 2022

🚨 The ANC and EFF in Ekurhuleni cannot even agree amongst themselves on the way forward, much less pick a new mayor.

The ANC infighting and the EFF’s flip-flopping in Ekurhuleni has left the Council in limbo and sets service delivery back once again. pic.twitter.com/F68Yhp9a5Z

— DA Gauteng (@DAGauteng) November 2, 2022

Meanwhile, the ANC is also reportedly in talks with smaller parties that supported Campbell’s removal to oust the speaker and the whip of council in Ekurhuleni, who are both DA members.

NOW READ: DA’s stance on EFF will ‘hurt’ multi-party coalition in Ekurhuleni, says ActionSA