Decision yet to be made on who will fill Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse's shoes

Residents of Johannesburg will know on Friday who will be in the mayoral seat in of axed mayor Mpho Phalatse. 

The city council concluded Thursday's proceedings before a new mayor was elected. 

The DA played their part in attempting to stall voting by claiming to not have their IDs present as they had not been notified that they would need to vote. 

Speaker Coleen Makhubele sought legal opinion which criticised the DA councillors, saying  they should have known better and come equipped. The party, however, proposed that voting take place when council resumes to avoid any legal challenges on the outcome.

Earlier on Thursday, the  ANC and EFF were still negotiating about how to go about co-governing Joburg and Ekurhuleni. Those discussions resulted in an interim decision to allow minorities to decide on a mayor among them.

Unconfirmed reports have tipped Thapelo Ahmad from the Al-Jamah party for election to the position.

Phalatse was ousted after a 140-councillor majority voted in favour of the no-confidence motion. She was set to face three different motions, but was voted out after the first debate.

The African Transformation Movement’s (ATM's) Lubabalo Magwentshu fielded the motion, saying Phalatse was nowhere to be found when residents needed her.

“When the people of Soweto called the mayor to come and address their issues, she didn’t. She only felt the pressure to visit them after she survived the first motion of no confidence. When the people of Eldorado Park needed her attention, she chose to attend a cycling event. When our people faced devastating floods, she told them to write a letter requesting her attendance. What kind of behaviour is that?” Magwentshu asked.

Phalatse, who survived two previous attempts to remove her, has become a victim of coalition conflict between the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and the DA, which saw the former vowing to remove the “arrogant” DA from Johannesburg.