Nonceba Molwele elected new speaker of Joburg

Nonceba Molwele has been elected unopposed as the new speaker of the City of Johannesburg.

The Johannesburg council chamber that the speaker plans to renovate according to recommendations from the Johannesburg Property Company. File photo.
The Johannesburg council chamber that the speaker plans to renovate according to recommendations from the Johannesburg Property Company. File photo. (Twitter/Joburg Finance)

Nonceba Molwele has been elected unopposed as the new speaker of the City of Johannesburg. 

The DA boycotted Wednesday's council meeting which was set to elect a replacement for former speaker Vasco da Gama. 

The party maintains that Da Gama, a DA councillor was not legally removed from his position as speaker at a meeting last week. 

The dispute is about whether the ANC managed to get the correct majority to remove Da  Gama. 

DA Gama took over as speaker in 2016 when a DA coalition took over the metro with the support of the EFF. 

Molwele was a former health MMC under then mayor Parks Tau. 

Despite both the DA and the EFF boycotting Wednesday's meeting, the city council managed to reach a quorum and pass the vote. 

Wednesday's outcome means the ANC-led alliance government, which includes Cope, the IFP, Patriotic Alliance and AL-Jama, is able to run council and pass budgets without trouble.