WATCH | Chaos outside Joburg court as battle for mayorship heats up

The battle for the mayorship of Johannesburg has been taken to the courts.

On Tuesday former DA mayor of Johannesburg Mpho Phalatse arrived at the South Gauteng High Court in a bid to overturn her removal from office. 

Outside the court DA members were confronted by members of Al Jama-ah, who were among those who voted to remove Phalatse.

Al Jama-ah members booed Phalatse and prevented her from addressing her supporters outside the court building and attempted to destroy a DA poster.

The party, which supports Muslim interests, has a single seat in parliament.

Phalatse and the DA are arguing that the council did not follow proper procedures during her removal and the vote of no confidence against her was unlawful. 

Phalatse indicated she was confident of returning to her seat as mayor of Joburg.

“It is a principled fight. If a mayor is going to be removed from office, it has to happen legally. I’m confident we have a judicial system that has integrity and I’m optimistic we will have a favourable response,” she said.

Inside court 9E the case was heard by judge Raylene Keightley.

After hearing the arguments from advocates for both sides, she decided to reserve judgment.

“I will reserve judgment and try to get it out as soon as I can,” said Keightley. 

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