Durban – The African National Congress’s eThekwini regional chairperson was elected mayor of the eThekwini metro municipality on Tuesday.
Zandile Gumede is the first woman to be elected mayor of the metro.
The Democratic Alliance’s provincial leader Zwakele Mncwango stood against her in the vote for mayor.
Gumede won by 124 votes to the 87 received by Mncwango and there were three spoilt votes.
There were scenes of cheering and jubilation as the vote was announced.
With 126 seats in the eThekwini metro it appears that two ANC councillors did not vote for Gumede, who is a controversial figure in the region.
Her ousting of James Nxumalo, the former mayor and provincial chairman of the SA Communist Party, late last year was not accepted by all within the ANC.
Durban has previously had a woman as a mayor, but that was before the advent of democracy in 1994.
African News Agency