WATCH: ANC’s Nkosindiphile Xhakaza elected unopposed as new Ekurhuleni mayor

ANC’s Ekurhuleni Convener Nkosindiphile Xhakaza has been elected the new mayor of Ekurhuleni.

The municipality had been without a mayor for two weeks after African Independent Congress (AIC) councillor Sivuyile Ngodwana’s removal from office following a motion of no confidence.

Watch a video of the reaction in council to Xhakaza’s appointment:

Xhakaza was elected unopposed.

ANC return to the mayoral office

This means an ANC member will return to the mayor’s office for the first time since Mzwandile Masina’s term ended in 2021.

READ MORE: Ekurhuleni mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana voted out by council

Xhakaza was defeated by Masina at the Ekurhuleni ANC’s elective conference in 2022.

Xhakaza served as a member of the municipality’s mayoral committee, serving as MMC for Corporate and Shared Services: Human Resources, Communications and Brand Management, Strategy, Risk, Legal and Internal Audit.

Delays

Thursday’s vote came after several delays in the appointment of a mayor, with parties telling The Citizen they were meeting behind closed doors.

READ MORE: ‘Infrastructure and finances to blame’ – Govan Mbeki mayor accepts R200m pollution fine

They threatened to take legal action against Speaker Nthabiseng Tshivhenga for taking her time in calling an extraordinary council meeting to appoint the mayor.

An MEC present

The Citizen‘s sister publication, Germiston City News said MEC of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Mzi Khumalo engaged in discussions with Speaker Nthabiseng Tshivhenga before the meeting.

Khumalo said his presence was to make sure the meeting was held as planned and before the April 12 deadline.

He said tension in the council harmed service delivery and called for residents’ needs to be put ahead of political squabbles.

No electricity

Among the service delivery issues plaguing the region, is power outages that recently left thousands of Boksburg families without electricity for over two weeks.

“I have spent thousands on fuelling my generator just to keep our household going,” a frustrated resident told The Citizen.

The community last week threatened a rates and taxes boycott “until the city gets its act together”.

Another resident claimed taxpayers were “the goose that lays the golden egg” for officials in the municipality.

“It’s our money they are squandering and at the same time, failing to deliver even the most basic of services.”

NOW READ: Ekurhuleni metro can be made to pay residents for negligence

Additional reporting by Hein Kaiser