- Sivuyile Ngodwana was voted out as the executive mayor of Ekurhuleni.
- This was possible after the ANC abstained from the vote.
- A new mayor will be voted in after seven days.
Sivuyile Ngodwana is no longer the Ekhuruleni executive
mayor after he was voted out in a motion of no confidence on Thursday.
The motion was passed with 47 votes in favour and 32 votes
against his removal.
The ANC and the DA abstained from the vote.
The move did not come as a shock to the leading coalition
members.
Ngodwana holds one of three seats given to the African
Independent Congress (AIC). The AIC is one of the Super Seven minority parties
– along with the ATM, ICM, PAC, COPE, UDM and NFP – that joined the ANC and EFF
coalition.
The Super Seven voted with ActionSA against the mayor on
Thursday.
Speaking to reporters before the motion, Ngodwana said he
wasn’t confident ahead of the vote but said he would wait for the process to
take its course.
This after he was seen sharing a joke and holding hands with
ANC premier Panyaza Lesufi.
Lesufi declined to comment and was not in the gallery for
the vote.
The council’s regulations state that a new mayor be elected
after seven days.
The motion against Ngodwana was brought by ActionSA and was
set to be heard on 29 February.
During the February motion debate, however, the council
erupted in chaos then coalition partners, EFF and ANC engaged in a physical
brawl.
As the violence spread, the speaker – EFF councillor
Nthabiseng Tshivhenga, left the building.
This is one of the main motivators for the second motion of
no confidence on Thursday afternoon which is against Tshivhenga.
The motion against mayor Ngodwana was then reset for 13
March but again was not heard, as the council adjourned to consider two
amendments to a motion of no confidence in him.
The ANC made the amendments – that the party with the most
seats would sit in the mayor’s seat- the ANC hold the most seats. And the DA –
that the council dissolve and residents vote in a new council during the
national election in May.
The ANC have since dropped their amendment, and the DA would
need a two-thirds majority to dissolve the council.
During council, they asked the Speaker if she could produce
evidence that she sought legal advice, which she said she would do.
Tshivhenga said she would produce it at an “appropriate
time”.
The DA does not believe the speaker sought legal advice.
The council is ongoing.