City manager: political talks won’t affect service delivery

With the future municipal leadership still unclear, City of Johannesburg Manager, Trevor Fowler, said service delivery will not be affected, no matter which way coalition negotiations go.

In the City, no party won more than 50 percent of the vote, urging coalition talks between political parties. The ANC did however 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 the EFF with 11.09 percent.

The ANC won 121 seats, the DA, 104 seats, the EFF, 30 seats and the smaller parties, collectively, hold 15 seats. Dr Liela Groenewald, senior lecturer at the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ’s) Department of Sociology, said a political party needs 50 percent plus one seat in council, that is 136 seats in the City, to be able to elect an executive mayor and a speaker. Fowler announced that the 16 August will see the inaugural City council meeting with the second meeting set for 8 September. Until a speaker is elected, Fowler will preside over the council.

“Thereafter the newly elected speaker will preside over council, which will elect the executive mayor and chief whip,” he said. Parties have 14 days after the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced the results on 6 August to form a government. “The City would like to assure residents that the absence of a clear majority by any party in Johannesburg does not mean a halt in services. The provision of services continues apace without interruptions,” he said.

Fowler also said a handover report, induction and orientation programmes will be tabled for the councillors. “The orientation programme, which will take place over three days from 22 August, will deal with legislation guiding municipalities and general governance,” he said.

Details: City of Johannebsurg: 0860 562 874

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