By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
City of Johannesburg Council has elected Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Vasco Da Gama as the new Speaker with 147 votes.
Da Gama beat ANC’s Eunice Mgcina just after the DA claimed its first victory in the City of Ekurhuleni, with its nominee Raymond Dlamini voted speaker of council.
Dlamini got 116 votes, while ANC’s Dorah Mlambo received 104. There were two spoiled ballots.
In Johannesburg, three candidates were nominated for the position of mayor and included the Democratic Alliance’s Mpho Phalatse and Action SA leader Herman Mashaba.
Da Gama previously served as speaker during former City of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba’s term.
Not all councillors were present during the meeting with an announcement earlier that only 267 councillors had signed the register.
Five hours in the City of Johannesburg’s first council meeting following the local government elections, all it had managed to achieve was swear in all 270 councillors.
Earlier Monday, between adjournments and lunches, it was only after 3pm where councillors went to the various caucus rooms to deliberate on who to nominate for the positions of speaker.
Meanwhile DA’s veteran councillor in Ekurhuleni Tania Campbell has managed to beat the ANC’s incumbent Mzwandile Masina to become executive mayor of the metropolitan municipality.
Campbell received 116 votes – 51 votes more than the DA’s seats in council. This means the trend of EFF and ActionSA councillors voting for DA candidates is continuing. Ekurhuleni and Masina was a stronghold for the ANC’s Radical Economic Transformation (RET) faction.
Campbell makes an acceptance speech saying the City of Ekurhuleni faces a lot of challenges. She calls for all political parties to come together.
She says her election is the change that the people of Ekurhuleni have been waiting for for 20 years.
DA councillor Khetha Shandu got 118 votes and has been elected chief whip of Ekurhuleni’s council. ANC councillor Sizakele Masuku lost out by 104 votes.
Ekurhuleni council sitting has concluded its business for the day. It is unclear when the next sitting will resume.
All the items on the agenda have been ticked off; a mayor has been elected along with a speaker of council and the chief whip council. All three elections went well for the DA with the party securing all three positions.
The municipality’s future still looks uncertain as a coalition government has not been sealed. No party holds the majority in council, despite a historic win for the DA.