Johannesburg – An ANC councillor has collapsed and died during the City of Joburg’s inaugural council sitting in the City Hall on Monday.
Geoff Makhubu of the ANC confirmed that one of their councillors had passed on.
The ANC caucus had asked for an adjournment earlier to allow the woman to recover. But she died minutes after the caucus left the venue.
The councillor has not yet been named.
Political parties had been at each other’s throats all day, lodging objections during the hotly contested elections held at the city hall in the CBD.
Earlier, the DA’s chairman of Joburg caucus, Vasco da Gama, snatched the speaker position from incumbent speaker Constance Bapela.
The DA’s mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba was then set to go head to head against his counterpart, incumbent mayor Parks Tau for executive mayor of Johannesburg.
Both Tau and Mashaba accepted nominations, but voting could not get underway after the ANC councillor fell sick and collapsed. After news of her death, it was agreed that there would be two ballots for chief whip and mayor at the same time.
Kevin Wax of the DA and Solomon Mogase of the ANC were nominated for chief whip.
African News Agency and IOL