All 71 DA councillors boycotted the election of new Johannesburg metro speaker Margaret Arnolds on Monday.
The opposition party said the council needs to be dissolved.
DA caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku defended her caucus for snubbing Monday's extraordinary council meeting that elected Arnolds, saying it was a waste of money. She said the council meeting on Monday could have cost up to R600,000.
“Our position remains clear. The Johannesburg council must be dissolved. We will not give legitimacy to the doomsday coalition while they are being frivolous with the taxpayers’ money,” Kayser-Echeozonjoku said.
“There is an ordinary council sitting scheduled for November 29-30, in one week’s time. There is no reason the speaker's election should not take place [on] the morning of that meeting.
“We have been clear: the revolving door of mayors and speakers will not change Johannesburg’s dire situation. Both the executive and legislative arms of the council have failed the residents of Johannesburg. The only solution is the dissolution of the council.”
Past mayors of the Joburg metro include Parks Tau (2016), Herman Mashaba (2016/19), Geoff Makhubo (2020/21), Mpho Moerane (2021), Jolidee Matongo (2021), Mpho Phalatse (2021/22), Dada Morero (2022) and Thapelo Amad (2023).
The present executive mayor, Kabelo Gwamanda, says the DA boycott of the special council meeting that elected African Independent Congress (AIC) councillor Arnolds was “blatantly disrespectful and arrogant”.
Arnolds, who served as member of the mayoral committee for community development during the tenure of late ANC mayors Makhubo, Matongo and Moerane, and as finance MMC, said she was humbled by her election and would focus on efforts aimed at delivering services to Joburg residents:
“I believe I will be speaker of council and not speaker of any political party.”
The metro is the biggest in the country, with a budget of R80.9bn budget for the 2023/24 financial year. It contributes almost 20% to national GDP and about 40% to the economy of Gauteng.
The executive mayor said the council would defeat any attempts or motion aimed at undermining the executive.
Arnolds was elected unopposed as speaker of the Johannesburg council, replacing Colleen Makhubele, who was sacked a week ago by her party, the Congress of the People (COPE).
COPE leader Mosiuoa Lekota announced last week Monday that Makhubele’s membership was terminated, after she had claimed that COPE had joined a newly formed coalition dubbed the SA Rainbow Alliance (Sara), without approval from its leadership.
Sara consists of smaller political parties, including the National Freedom Party and other religious organisations aiming to contest the provincial and national elections in 2024 under one banner.
Meanwhile, Gwamanda said the planned motion by the DA to dissolve council was an idea without a plan.
“There would not be anything to defeat because it will fade away on its own. It is them trying to undermine the capacity of the current government of the day. And it is them blatantly disrespecting the voters who went out in numbers to make sure that they elect who they want to be represented by in council and executive positions,” he said.
“A single political party has been voted out of council and their only means to retaliate is to call for the dissolution of the entire council at the expense of everyone who participated in the processes that led to where we are.”
The executive mayor said the council would ensure “we defeat anything that they bring to us in this council”.
“The fact of the matter is that we are all councillors and our fiduciary duty is that we attend every council meeting so that we can represent the constituencies as well as residents in the city of Johannesburg. The opposition not being here is actually sad, to say the least,” said the mayor.
He described Arnolds’ election as a “proud moment” and a step towards stability and “ensuring we maintain the decorum of council”.
“The integrity and legitimacy of council is intact. We have the numbers, we will continue to defend the current administration and we will ensure that we strengthen each other to ensure that we deliver services to the residents of the city of Johannesburg,” said Gwamanda.
Update: November 20, 2023 — This article has been updated with new information throughout.
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