DA councillor Tania Campbell was removed as Ekurhuleni executive mayor after failing to survive a motion of no confidence tabled by the ANC on Wednesday.
Campbell’s removal came a day after the high court in Johannesburg confirmed DA councillor Mpho Phalatse as Johannesburg executive mayor, after her unlawful removal, also through a vote of no confidence, on September 30.
The Ekurhuleni council has 224 seats and clear majority of 50% plus 1 (113) is needed to pass crucial council items such as the budget and votes of no confidence. Of the 224, the ANC has 86 seats, DA 65, EFF 31, ActionSA 15, Freedom Front Plus 8, IFP 2 and ACDP 2, with smaller parties accounting for 10 seats.
The ANC’s motion of no confidence against Campbell passed with the help of the PA and the smaller parties (AIC 3, ATM 1, COPE 1, ICM 1, IRASA 1, NFP 1, PAC 1, UDM 1) as the EFF, the kingmaker in the metro, abstained from the vote.
Campbell’s removal speaks to the instability of coalition governments as politicians jostle for positions to the detriment of delivery of services to communities.
Political analyst and coalitions expert Levy Ndou said her removal also shone the spotlight on the DA’s ability to manage coalitions. He said the ANC pushed for the motion against Campbell on the basis of the number of seats it held in council.
“This is not about Campbell’s performance or non-performance, it’s about weaknesses in coalitions. Immediately you realise there are gaps in the coalition, you push for a motion with the hope that it succeeds,” Ndou said.
About-turn
Campbell’s ousting comes a few weeks after newly elected Gauteng premier and ANC provincial chair Panyaza Lesufi spoke out against the use of motions of no confidence, saying better conflict resolution skills were needed to manage coalitions rather than motions of no confidence.
But on Wednesday, Lesufi made an about-turn and came out in support of the motion of no confidence in Campbell, saying this was aimed at strengthening democracy.
Speaking to Business Day on the sidelines of the council meeting, Lesufi said: “We are on the right track to stabilise the municipalities. You can’t have a minority ruling over a majority. This [DA-led coalition] is a minority government. Where else will you have a minority ruling over a majority? It can’t work.
“This is a minority government. We are rectifying it to have a majority government. When you have a majority government you’ve got stability and you can recruit the best talent. Part of stabilising [the metros] is to ensure that democracy prevails. There is nothing beyond democracy.”
The ANC accused Campbell of failing to address service delivery challenges in the metro. In August, four people were killed after residents of Thembisa township set fire to the Ekurhuleni customer service centre and several cars in protests over high municipal rates and power cuts to defaulting customers.
Lesufi said the ANC’s motion against Campbell stated that the “finances of this municipality are about to collapse”. “Do you have to wait for them to collapse and not pay Eskom before you remove them? No, you have to pre-empt, and it’s part of stability,” he said.
The premier revealed that his administration had already established a team aimed at managing coalitions in the province. It was hoped the team would establish a legal framework which “hopefully all political parties will adopt”.
“We have also established a process to appoint credible negotiators. Where there are differences, you can unleash those negotiators.
“Some of the things are differences, if you go to the [negotiating] table and you’ve got credible negotiators they can resolve them and save government [the] money of going to courts and having these kinds of motions when we need stability in municipalities,” Lesufi said.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said recently the party, through three private members’ bills, will introduce 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,” Steenhuisen has said.
Ekurhuleni, with Johannesburg and Tshwane, fell to DA-led coalitions during the 2021 municipal elections after the ANC’s national support fell below 50% for the first time since it became the first democratically-elected government in 1994.
Speaker Raymond Dhlamini said a special sitting would be called to elect a new mayor for the Ekurhuleni metro, which 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.