Who will be the mayor, and other pressing questions
JOBURG – Questions about coalitions and how they work have surfaced after the hotly contested City of Johannesburg metro results were revealed on 6 August.
With election day done and dusted, the City of Johannesburg, the last metro to have its results captured, had no clear winner and the future still seems unclear.
The ANC did win the majority of votes in the City, after a long, rigorous vote capturing process in the 2016 Municipal Elections. The final result saw the ANC with 44.55 percent of the votes, the DA with 38.37 percent, and EFF with 11.09 percent.
ANC won 121 seats, the DA won 104 seats, and the EFF won 30 seats.
Now, a coalition between political parties could take the City under new leadership. Or not.
Experts believe that decisions on who the mayor will be is unclear until coalitions are formed. Dr Liela Groenewald, senior lecturer at the University of Johannesburg’s Department of Sociology, said a political party needs 50 percent plus one seat in council to be able to elect an executive mayor and a speaker. Since no party has this, coalitions could be underway to get at least 136 (50 percent plus one) of the 270 seats in the City.
According to returning ward councillor, Tim Truluck, a few options, like coalitions between the ANC and DA; the ANC and EFF; the DA, EFF and smaller parties or the ANC and the smaller parties, are possible.
The smaller parties, excluding the EFF, hold a total of 15 seats in the City.
But if no formal coalition is made, the ANC could form a minority government.
Groenewald made it clear that a minority government cannot elect a mayor and a speaker, but that more than half of the council should agree on both.
Parties have 14 days after the Independent Electoral Commission announced the results on 6 August, to form a government. In the City, the inaugural council meeting will be held on 16 August and the City manager, Trevor Fowler will preside over the council until a speaker is elected.
What do you think will happen in the City? Tell us by leaving your comment below.
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