City of Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse says they will continue with the repair and rebuild of the city.
Phalatse said the Joburg multi-party government had accepted the outcome of the motion of no confidence against the former speaker, Councillor Vasco Da Gama.
During a council sitting in the early hours of Thursday, Da Gama was booted out from the highest position of the municipal legislature.
This is after the motion of no confidence against him was tabled by PAC, Al Jamma, seconded by AIC and backed by EFF and ANC.
The motion of no confidence was settled with 136 votes for the motion and 132 against it, forcing Da Gama out.
“Da Gama served the council in an exemplary fashion,” said Phalatse.
She assured residents that her government was keeping its eyes on the ball in working to repair the city to its former glory.
“I would like to assure residents that the work of repairing and rebuilding the city remains on track and will not be affected by the outcome of the motion against Da Gama,” Phalatse said.
She did not hold back in sharing her feelings towards some certain coalition members who voted in favour of the motion.
“We note with utter shame that certain members of the coalition elected to vote in favour of the motion, we are also aware that ahead of the motion there were allegations of bribery, which will be detailed in an affidavit,” she said.
It is no secret that the city is in a bad condition due to a number of challenges including housing and infrastructure backlog, corruption, Soweto residents and surrounding areas have in the past months embarked on a number of protests over poor service delivery and power cuts.
“As the multi-party government we will introspect on what needs to be done to regroup, as Joburg cannot afford to be handed back to a cabal who place self-interest ahead of the needs of Joburg’s six million residents. We are nonetheless confident that we will restore order. This is but a speed bump on a long road. The repair and rebuild of South Africa’s economic hub has just begun, therefore our work is far from over. We intend on completing this term of office,” Phalatse said.