VANDERBIJLPARK – Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) Mayor Sipho Radebe dodged the chopping block, escaping a motion of no confidence that could have ended his reign.
This comes after the Democratic Alliance (DA) gunned for Radebe’s head since December last year.
On Thursday, February 20, the embattled mayor proved tougher than expected when he clutched onto his seat with 49 votes in his favor while 40 council members voted against him.
All in all, 89 councillors attended the special council meeting with all providing valid votes and zero spoiled.
The ELM council chambers in Vanderbijlpark was packed to their knees with different regional political heads gracing the event.
Following the secret ballot voting officiated by the Electoral Commission of South Africa, Mayor’s spokesperson, Mphikeleli Msibi said “The defeat of the motion of no confidence against councillor Radebe brought by the DA, is consistent with the argument we raised as the ANC-led coalition. We maintained that it was a frivolous political stunt meant to destabilize the municipality and disrupt the ongoing service delivery interventions of the sixth administration.”
“We thank our coalition partners for standing firm in defense of the evident progress that has been made. We will not grow weary in doing our best to ensure that we continue to bring much-needed services to our residents,” he said
Opposition parties in Emfuleni said they would continue the battle until Radebe is removed as mayor.
DA caucus leader Duncan Nkosi said “It is unfortunate for us to not remove the mayor. But as the Democratic Alliance we did our best and we will not stop fighting because we believe our residents deserve service delivery. We live to fight another day and we will continue to be an official opposition. We will make sure we will hold people accountable.”
Economic Freedom Fighters’ Sedibeng Regional Chairperson, Isaac Khithika said “We reject the re-election of the mayor Sipho Radebe. Emfuleni deserves better leadership. Under Sipho’s leadership at Emfuleni, the municipality is the worst ever with litter and sewer everywhere. The EFF has voted to remove him from office and will do so continuously.”
