The ANC, which recaptured Johannesburg with the help of smaller opposition parties two weeks ago, has now set its sights on removing Ekurhuleni DA executive mayor Tania Campbell after submitting a motion of no confidence in her.
ANC Ekurhuleni spokesperson Lesiba Mpya said on Thursday the party had submitted the motion on Wednesday, 14 days before the next council sitting, in line with council procedures. Speaker Raymond Dhlamini’s office on Thursday confirmed receipt of the motion and the date of the debate, October 26.
Mpya said Campbell had failed to address service delivery challenges in the metro. In August, four people were killed after residents of Thembisa set fire to the Ekurhuleni customer service centre and several cars in protests over high municipal rates and defaulting customers having their power cut.
“The motion will now go through the programming committee, which will put it on the agenda of the next council meeting. The motion meets the criteria to be tabled in the council on October 26,” Mpya said.
“There are continuous meetings between the party’s provincial and regional leadership [regarding the matter]. As to who becomes the next mayor is a competency of the provincial leadership,” Mpya said.
Campbell’s spokesperson Warren Gwilt said the DA was aware of the no-confidence motion being delivered to the speaker’s office. “It has to go the through programming committee first. If it goes through the programming committee then it will appear before council ... [and only then will we] be able to comment on the details contained in it,” Gwilt said.
In a statement on Thursday, DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party, through three private members’ bills, will be introducing legislation to stabilise coalitions after the 2024 general elections.
One of the proposals is to formalise coalition agreements by making them public. “Coalition agreements, across all spheres of government, should reflect the coalition partners’ genuine commitment to multiparty government and should enable the maintenance of the coalition over the course of the term of government,” Steenhuisen said.
Another proposal is to limit the frequency of no-confidence motions within a legislature. “Setting a limit on the frequency ... will give the governing coalition an opportunity to govern without the constant distraction and threat of being removed”, he said.
The ANC’s action in Ekurhuleni comes despite a pledge last week by newly elected Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi to stabilise the province’s metros since disruptions affected the economy.
Lesufi said co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Mzikayifani Khumalo’s mandate was to “give attention to local government to ensure stable management of the coalition governments in place”.
“Some of the things need conflict resolution rather than motions of no confidence. We are losing skilled engineers ... no-one wants to work in an unstable environment,” Lesufi said.
Support for the ANC has waned in recent years, declining to 36.06% during the 2021 municipal elections from 45.84% and 59.66% at the 2016 and 2011 polls, respectively.
The party lost control of the crucial metros of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane to DA-led coalitions at the 2021 municipal election after its national support fell below 50% for the first time since it became the first democratically elected government in 1994.
Joburg, the country’s richest metro, is headed by an ANC-led coalition after the ousting of the DA’s Mpho Phalatse as mayor after a motion of no confidence in her was passed on September 30. Phalatse is challenging her removal in court and the matter is set to be heard at the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on October 18.
Phalatse’s removal has again highlighted the instability of coalitions in SA, which local government experts and political analysts say are shrouded in secrecy and tend to focus more on clinging to power than addressing socio-economic challenges of constituents.
Phalatse failed to survive the confidence debate after councillors from the Patriotic Alliance (PA) — which was part of the DA-led municipality — shunned the coalition and voted with the ANC and other smaller opposition parties.
Campbell removed PA councillors Bakang Lethoko, the MMC for health and social development, and Dino Peterson, MMC for human settlements, replacing them with ActionSA’s Charlotte Zitha and the DA’s Mabekenyane Thamahane.
She said the reshuffle was in the interest of improving service delivery and ensuring that “we continue to fulfil our mandate”. The metro tabled a budget of R51.2bn in May for the 2022/2023 financial year.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.