Tania Campbell removed as mayor of Ekurhuleni

Democratic Alliance (DA) member, Tania Campbell, will have to clean her desk following her removal as Ekurhuleni mayor.

The City of Ekurhuleni held its council sitting on Wednesday, where Campbell was ousted through a ANC-sponsored motion of no confidence.

100 councillors voted in favour of her removal, while 93 councillors voters against her ousting, the EFF abstained from voting.

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Debate

Before voting, councillors debated on the motion with ANC caucus chief whip Jongizizwe Dlabathi insisting that the DA has failed to government in Ekurhuleni.

“To date, communities in Ekurhuleni are feeling the pinch of insensitive tariffs and many beginning to express a sense of a DA-led coalition that [doesn’t care].

“The general sentiment is that the situation is dire, particularly, if you look at the overall state of service delivery in the city,” he said.

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DA deputy chief whip Khathutshelo Rasilingwane criticised the ANC for being power hungry, saying the ruling party was just looking “to milk the city dry”.

“The ANC caucus will try have residents convinced that we inherited a well-run city and that within the past year, the coalition has failed to deliver when the actual fact that they have done this [metro] very badly,” Ralisingwane added.

Meanwhile, EFF caucus leader Nkululeko Ndunga indicated that neither the ANC nor DA has had formally approached the Red Berets to vote for or against the motion.

City of Joburg

The developments in Ekurhuleni follow the Johannesburg High Court’s ruling, which declared the removal of DA’s Mpho Phalatse as Joburg mayor as unlawful and invalid.

On Tuesday, the High Court also set aside the election of the ANC Joburg regional chair Dada Morero as the new mayor.

In addition, City of Joburg Speaker Colleen Makhubele was ordered to pay the costs of the DA’s urgent application, including the costs of two counsels.

READ MORE: War over Joburg mayoral chain far from over, despite DA victory

The DA this week re-affirmed its position not to work with the EFF in the City of Joburg, with the party’s federal council chair Helen Zille insisting that the party do so due to the Red Berets’ views on white people.

Zille labelled the EFF a racist party.

The DA had lost control of the city after Phalatse was voted out on 30 September through a motion of no confidence brought by minority parties and backed by the ANC.

On the same day, Phalatse’s urgent interdict to stop the metro’s council meeting was struck off the court roll.