New City of Joburg Speaker, Colleen Makhubele during a council meeting on 28 September 2022. Picture: Neil McCartney / The Citizen
The City of Johannesburg, chair of chairs, Colleen Makhubele has officially been elected as the new Council Speaker.
Makhubele beat Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor Alex Christians by 141 to 129 votes during the city’s council meeting on Wednesday.
The Congress of the People (Cope) member, who replaces ousted Vasco da Gama, thanked her party for their support and for “not firing her”.
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Cope’s interim provincial committee in Gauteng had suspended Makhubele with immediate effect earlier this month, pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing.
But Makhubele, who was suspended from all council duties and activities, insisted that she was not going anywhere because she had the support of Cope’s national leadership.
The suspension came after Makhubele attempted to convene a special council meeting to elect a new council Speaker.
The meeting, however, was interdicted after the City filed an urgent court application to stop the council from happening.
The Johannesburg High Court had ruled that Makhubele had no authority to convene a council meeting as she was not elected as acting Speaker.
Da Gama was ousted by 136 votes last month, after the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) tabled a motion of no-confidence.
The motion was backed by the African National Congress (ANC), the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and other smaller parties in council.
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The Democratic Alliance (DA) has since laid charges against ANC for allegedly bribing council members to vote out Da Gama.
The DA has accused the ANC and EFF of trying to destabilise the multi-party coalition government in Johannesburg.
Once the Speaker is elected, minority parties are planning to have the Joburg mayor, Mpho Phalatse, removed from her position with a motion of confidence.
They have suggested that the mayor has failed in her duties.
Phalatse has been accused of corruption and maladministration, which relates to a payment made to a non-profit organisation (NGO) without authorisation of the council.
The NGO, Field Band Foundation, provided services to the metropolitan municipality for more than R11 million in 2017.
Meanwhile, the Joburg mayor has also been accused of concealing evidence related to spy equipment the City allegedly bought illegally.
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