ANC loses Mogale City

The ANC has lost another municipality to the DA in Gauteng, this time Mogale City Municipality.

The ANC has lost another municipality to the DA in Gauteng, this time Mogale City Municipality.

Published Aug 19, 2016

Share

Johannesburg - The ANC has lost another municipality to the DA in Gauteng, this time Mogale City Municipality, as the aftershocks of the municipal elections continue to rattle the liberation movement.

The dramatic outcome happened on Thursday after the DA managed to secure the mayoral position, while the ANC secured other key posts such as speaker and chief whip.

This came after one of the opposition members mysteriously and controversially voted for the ANC.

The outcome of Thursday’s secret council elections show that the ANC only managed to retain these positions after one of the opposition party members defied the coalition mandate of the DA, EFF, Freedom Front Plus and IFP to vote against any of the ANC candidates.

The latest setback came after the ANC lost the key metros of Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay in Port Elizabeth. While the ANC looks likely to retain Ekurhuleni, after negotiating coalitions with the African Independent Congress (AIC) and the PAC, its prospects in the City of Joburg still hang in the balance.

The DA has insisted that it will go ahead with the nomination of its Joburg mayoral candidate, Herman Mashaba, when the city convenes its inaugural council meeting on Monday.

This came amid the objection of the EFF to his candidacy as a precondition for voting in the DA’s favour.

But EFF leader Julius Malema appears to have eased down from his rejection of Mashaba.

The ANC’s loss of Mogale City - which it had governed since 2000 - will further heighten concerns around its floundering fortunes.

The outcome of the August 3 municipal elections shows that the ANC had, for the first time, failed to secure an outright majority in that municipality. It only managed to get 38 seats. The DA secured 27 seats, the EFF nine, FF+ two while the IFP got one seat.

As a result, opposition parties agreed on Tuesday that all parties whose combined seats totalled 39 seats would vote as a collective against the ANC.

But the ANC managed to secure 39 votes for the position of speaker, while the DA candidate secured 38 votes.

The DA won the crucial mayoral position after its mayoral candidate, Lynn Pannall, secured 39 votes ahead of the ANC’s Peace Mabe, who lost by one vote.

During the nomination of the chief whip, it was again the DA who lost the race with a single vote. “It was a secret ballot,” DA West Rand constituency head Alan Fuchs said.

He added that the outcome had clearly showed that one of the opposition members had voted alongside the ANC for the positions of Speaker and chief whip.

The clearly aggrieved Fuchs said that the outcome would likely affected stability in the Mogale City Municipality.

While the DA has vowed to sit down with their coalition partners to review the outcome, it expressed happiness that it had secured the mayoral position.

This then brings Mogale City - the second of the seven smaller municipalities after Midvaal Municipality in Meyerton - under the DA’s control.

Gauteng DA leader John Moodey also welcomed the outcome of the Mogale City vote.

“The vote of confidence in councillor Pannall shows that the majority of people in Mogale City have opted to vote for change that will stop corruption, create jobs and deliver better services for all.”

The Star

Related Topics: