By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: Werner Hills.
The Nelson Mandela Bay council meeting that was meant to unseat mayor Eugene Johnson was adjourned as it failed to reach a quorum.
Johnson is facing the chop after the Democratic Alliance (DA) called for a motion of no confidence in the African National Congress-led coalition.
Councillors who failed to turn up at the meeting included the ANC, EFF, PAC and PA and a DOP councillor.
This left the meeting without the 61 councillors needed to reach a quorum.
There are 12 political parties with seats in the current council of Nelson Mandela Bay. The ANC and the DA received roughly the same number of votes (around 40%) in the November 2021 local government elections (the EFF holds eight seats).
To form a majority government, a coalition must have 61 seats. The other parties in council are the FF+, ACDP, the Defenders of the People and the Patriotic Alliance, with two seats each. The Good Party, UDM, AIC and AIM each have a single seat. The Northern Alliance (NA) is the largest of the small parties, with three seats.
Johnson was dealt a major blow in her bid to keep the position on Tuesday when the Gqeberha High Court dismissed with costs her urgent application to interdict the Special Council Meeting and remove the motion of no confidence from the agenda.
The municipality has also filed a court application to appeal against a previous decision of the Gqeberha high court allowing council speaker and Northern Alliance councillor Gary van Niekerk, Stag Mitchell and Bevan Brown to attend council meetings.
Last week’s council meeting was adjourned before the motion to remove Johnson, her deputy Bulelwa Mafaya and the chief whip Wandisile Jikeka was carried out, and the sitting was rescheduled to Wednesday.
The ANC has lost all of its co-governing allies in the metro to a DA-led coalition that is set to emerge as the governing coalition if a motion of no confidence against Johnson will ever take place.