Port Elizabeth – South African Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan was elected mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay metro on Thursday morning, ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa confirmed.
“He is the new mayor,” Kodwa said, adding that Jordaan received 62 votes from the ANC councillors.
Opposition parties boycotted the vote.
The score means that the ANC narrowly made the required quorum to elect a new mayor in the troubled metro.
The ANC holds 63 seats but has had to contend with internal opposition to a decision at national level to rope in Jordaan as mayor ahead of next year’s local government elections.
Jordaan replaces Ben Fihle as mayor.
The ANC is expected to see a tough challenge from the Democratic Alliance, which will be fielding Eastern Cape party leader Athol Trollip as its mayoral candidate in Nelson Mandela Bay.
ANA