A few hours after Tania Campbell was removed as mayor of Ekurhuleni, the metro has elected African Independent Congress councillor Sivuyile Ngodwana to take over the reins.
The election of Ngodwana comes after the ANC-EFF coalition had put councillors from smaller parties in the Gauteng metros into mayoral positions while councillors from the two major parties were appointed onto mayoral committees.
After the election of Thapelo Armad in Johannesburg, the ANC-EFF coalition failed in its bid on two occasions to get a mayor from Cope to occupy the position.
But on Thursday, after a day of drama, the coalition secured a victory for Ngodwana against Campbell.
ANC provincial chairperson in Gauteng Panyaza Lesufi said he hoped the election of the new mayor in Ekurhuleni would bring stability.
He said Ngodwana would have to look at speeding up service delivery in the municipality.
Lesufi said they wanted to ensure there was stability in the Gauteng metros and surrounding municipalities.
The political parties are heading to national and provincial elections in 2024 and the fight for control of the municipalities has heightened.
In KwaZulu-Natal there was also an ANC-EFF coalition that has been mounting a fight to remove the IFP from some of its former strongholds after it lost support in the last elections in local government.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Current Affairs