West Rand District Municipality mayor ousted through no-confidence motion

West Rand District Municipality (WRDM) executive mayor, Hullet Hild, has been removed from office through a motion of no confidence.

No-confidence motion

Hild, a Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor, was removed on Tuesday during a special sitting of the West Rand District in Randfontein, Gauteng. He was ousted along with the whip of council, Alme Swart, also a councillor from the DA.

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This follows a motion of no confidence supported by the African National Congress (ANC), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and the African Independent Congress (AIC).

A new mayor for the municipality will reportedly come from the AIC.

West Rand District

The WRDM – which was run by the DA after the 2021 municipal elections – oversees Mogale City Local Municipality in Krugersdorp, Rand West City Local Municipality in Randfontein and Merafong City Local Municipality in Carletonville.

Hild and Swart were elected to their positions in January last year, during the inaugural meeting of the municipality. They were elected along with Gerhard Kruger, who served as council speaker.

The DA ran the municipality after receiving a majority of votes from the EFF and other opposition parties.

Gauteng coalition politics

The ANC and EFF have recently joined forces in Gauteng’s municipalities to boot out the DA from power, accusing the party of failing to deliver services to communities.

Last week, the two parties successfully removed the DA’s Tania Campbell as the mayor of the City of Ekurhuleni. AIC councillor Sivuyile Ngodwana was elected to replace Campbell.

The ANC and EFF also attempted to field a mayoral candidate from the Congress of the People (Cope) in the City of Tshwane. However, the parties failed after DA councillor Cilliers Brink was elected with the support of the DA’s coalition partners.

In January, Al Jama-ah councillor Thapelo Amad was elected the mayor of the City of Johannesburg after the DA’s Mpho Phalatse was removed via a motion of no confidence.

The no-confidence motion was backed by the ANC and EFF.

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