Al Jama-ah councillor in the City of Johannesburg Thapelo Amad has won the race for the mayoral chain of SA’s biggest metro, trouncing fellow councillors ActionSA caucus leader Funzi Ngobeni and DA councillor and former mayor Mpho Phalatse for the top job.
The mayoral contest saw Amad, the provincial chair of the Muslim minority party, being elected political head of municipality with 138 votes. Ngobeni received 46 and Phalatse 81. There was one spoilt vote, while two councillors had expired IDs. In total 266 councillors cast their votes, speaker Colleen Makhubele said.
Amad succeeds Phalatse who was removed through a vote of no confidence on Thursday, having served as mayor since November 2021.
Al Jama-ah has three seats in the 270-seat Joburg council, with the ANC accounting for 91, followed by the DA with 71 seats, ActionSA 44, EFF 29, Patriotic Alliance (PA) 8, IFP 7, VF Plus 4, ACDP 3, AIC 2, and one seat each for AHC, APC, ATM, COPE, GOOD, PAC, UDM and UIM.
To pass the budget and other crucial council items, including service delivery programmes, a simple majority of 136 votes is needed.
Johannesburg, with the cities of Ekurhuleni and Tshwane, have been led by DA-led multiparty coalitions since the 2021 municipal elections, when the ANC’s support fell below 50% for the first time.
The City of Joburg, which has 13 entities under it, a population of about 6-million and a budget of R77.3bn for the 2022/2023 financial year, contributes about 15.6% to SA’s GDP.
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